Solar PV Balance of System and System Design

This activity, from the Center for Renewable Energy Advanced Technological Education Resource Center (CREATE), provides an introduction to the balance of system equipment and system design for solar photovoltaic panels. During the activity students will learn:

• How solar PV systems can be engineered to meet different situations and goals.
• What equipment--beyond solar PV panels--is needed to make various systems work.
• In general, what each piece of Balance of System equipment does. 

The activity includes a student guide, an instructor guide, and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and National Energy Literacy Standards (ELS) that this lesson may fulfill. All resources are provided in PDF format.

The 11-page instructor guide includes learning goals, technology required, an introduction to the activity, and six short answer questions with answers.

The 11-page student guide is divided into the following topics: PV Direct, DC Stand-Alone, Grid-Connected, and Grid-Tied With Battery Backup. Each topic includes an introductory narrative and a matching activity where students copy the correct components for the given system into a flowchart. The activity concludes with six short answer questions that require additional research.

For orientation purposes, 508_Solar PV Balance of System and System Design Student Lesson & Response Guide.pdf is included as a separate attachment and offers a sample of the type of material included.

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

508_Solar_PV_Balance_of_System_System_Design (5 files, 1.5 MB)

• Energy Literacy Principles and Concepts (508_ELStandards Solar PV Balance of System and System Design.pdf 69 KB)
• Next Generation High School Science Standards (508_NGSStandards Solar PV Balance of System and System Design.pdf 126 KB)
• Instructor Guide and Answer Key (508_Solar PV Balance of System and System Design Instructors Guide & Answer Key.pdf 650 KB)
• Student Guide (508_Solar PV Balance of System and System Design Student Lesson & Response 641 KB) Guide.pdf