Solar Site Analysis: The Solar Pathfinder

This collection from the Center for Renewable Energy Advanced Technological Education Resource Center (CREATE) is composed of teaching materials that highlight a lesson on the Solar Pathfinder. "The Pathfinder is an instrument that was developed to determine whether or not a given site is appropriate for locating a solar PV array. By the conclusion of the lesson, [students] will know how to use the Solar Pathfinder." Students will also become "acquainted with important solar terminology and a variety of site-specific variables that must be considered when determining where to place, or not place, a solar photovoltaic system." The collection is composed of nine documents. 

Documents include site examples slides, an instructor's guide and answer key, a student lesson and response guide, standards documents, student introduction slides, and three sunpath diagram examples. The site examples slides provide details and images of sunpath diagrams on a pathfinder. The instructor's guide and answer key includes learning goals; a list of required materials, resources, technology; an activity; and answers to a student assessment. The student lesson and response guide introduces students to and teaches them how to use a Solar Pathfinder and includes an assessment for the lesson. The standards documents explore energy literacy principles and concepts, as well as next generation high school science standards. The student introduction slides provide an overview of the solar pathfinder, including images and guidance on the lesson. The three diagrams include a blank sunpath diagram, an answer key to the blank diagram, and a diagram for different north latitudes in the United States. 

For orientation purposes solar-site-analysis-the-solar-pathfinder-student-lesson---response-guide.pdf is included as a separate attachment and offers a sample of the type of the material included in this module.

Below is a list of the files included in the .zip attachment. The size of each file is included in parenthesis. 

508_Solar_Site_Analysis_The_Solar_Pathfinde (9 files, 28 MB)

• Solar Pathfinder Site Examples Slides (508_Solar Pathfinder Site Examples.pdf 2.2 MB)
• Instructor's Guide and Answer Key (508_Solar Site Analysis The Solar Pathfinder Instructors Guide & Answer Key.pdf 326 KB)
• Student Lesson and Response Guide (508_Solar Site Analysis The Solar Pathfinder Student Lesson & Response Guide.pdf 1 MB)
• Energy Literacy Standards (508_Standards Advanced ELS Pathfinder.pdf 98 KB)
• Next Generation Science Standards (508_Standards Advanced NGSS Pathfinder.pdf 107 KB)
• Student Introduction Slides (508_Student Introduction To The Solar Pathfinder.pdf 19.4 MB)
• Sunpath Diagram Answer Key (508_Student Sunpath Diagram Answer Keys.pdf 180 KB)
• Sunpath Diagram Blanks (508_Student Sunpath Diagram Blanks.pdf 3 MB)
• Your Latitude Sunpath Diagrams (508_Your Latitude Sunpath Diagrams.pdf 1.6 MB)