Renewable Energy Systems

The following year course planner is a list of all classes offered for the Renewable Energy Systems degree.   Please review the "Advising Guide" attachment and "Projected Course Offerings", these will provide you with more details.

NOTE:  Subject to change without notice; these courses are a projection of what will be available but are not guaranteed.

COURSE

EE 221 - Circuits I - DC and 1st Order Tansient Analysis (4)

AC and 1st Order Tansient Analysis.  Ohm's law.  Kirchhoff's Law (KCL and KVL).  Nodal Analysis.  Branch analysis.  Source transformations. Thevenin and Norton equivlent circuits.  maximum power transfer.  Introduction to operational amplifiers.  Inductance. Capacitance.  Mutual Inductance. Transient response of RL and RC.
Prerequisite:  MATH 251
Corequisite: MATH 252, Student must register for a laboratory section.

EE 223 - Electric Circuits II - AC and 2nd Order of Transient Analysis (4)

DC and 1st Order Transient AC, 2nd Order Transient Analysis.  SInusoids and phasors. Sinusoidal Steady-State Analysis.  Nodal analysis.  Branch analysis. Source transformations.  Thevenin's and Norton's equivalent circuits.  Sinusoidals Steady-State power calculation.  Balanced three-phase circuits.
Prerequisites: EE 221, with a grade of C or better.
Corequisites: Student must register for a laboratory section.

EE 321 - Electronics I- Intro to Amplifiers and Semiconductor Devices& Lab (5)

Top-down approach. Voltage, current, transresistance and transconductance amplifiers.  Operational amplifiers.  Two-part models.  Transfer functions, frequency response, gain-bandwidth-product.  Nonlinear distortion, slew-rate.  Introduction to semiconductors, holes and electrons, p-n junctions, FETs, I vs V curves.  FET amplifiers. 
Prerequisite:  EE 223 with grade C or better.
Corequisite:  Student must register for a laboratory section

EE 343 - Solid-State Electronic Devices (3)

Crystal properties and growth of semiconductors. Atoms and electrons. Energy bands and charge carriers in semiconductors.  Excess carriers in semiconductors. p-n junctions. FETs and BJTs.  Optoelectronic devices.  High frequency and high-power devices.
Prerequisite: EE 321 with a grade of C or better 

EE 419 Power Electronics (4)

Thermal modeling, power devices, class A and B transformer and transformer-less amplifiers, BJT and MOS output stages, class C amplifiers, power supplies, rectifier circuits zener diodes, voltage regulators, switching regulators, thyristores, SCRs, DIACs, TRIACs, optoelectonics, LEDs, Photodiodes, optocouplers. 
Prerequisite: EEE323 with a grade of C or better.

ENGR 355- Thermodynamics (3)

An introductory course in thermodynamics, the science of heat energy conversion.  Develops understanding of energy, heat, work, efficiency, and ideal thermodynamic cycles.  Teaches first and second laws of thermodynamics and perfect gas law.
Prerequisites:  MATH 252; PHY 202 or PHY 222.

MECH 318 - Fluid Mechanics (4)

Covers fluid properties, fluid static's, conservation laws of pipe flow, drag, lift fluid dynamics, measurement of flow, viscous flow, laminar, and turbulent flow, and forces due to fluid motion.
Prerequisite: ENGR 211, PHY 221 
Corequisite: MECH 363

MECH 323- Heat Transfer (3)

An introduction to the three modes of heat transfer, conduction, convection and radiation.  Teaches the analytical and empirical techniques used for solving problems in heat transfer, including those for which computer application is most suited. 
Prerequisite: MATH 321, MECH 318 

MECH 436- Applied Control Systems (3)

A study of modern industrial control systems, both discrete and analog.  Topics include block diagrams, relay ladder logic and applications of programmable logic controllers. Prerequisite: ENGR 212, MET 326

RES 201 - Intro to Renewable Energy Systems (3)

An introduction to renewable energy.  Topics include photovoltaics, solar thermal systems, green building, fuel-cells, hydrogen, wind power, waste heat, biofuels, wave power, tidal power and hydroelectric.  Discussions of economic, environment, politics and social policy are integral components of the course.
Prerequisite: MATH 111

REE 221- LabView Porgramming (4)

An object oriented programming course using National Instruments LabView programming language designed for programming data-logging, instrumentation and control applications. Basic flow-charting is introduced. Logical constructs as implemented by LabView are investigated. Example control problems be investigated and programmed using LabView. 
Prerequisite: REE 211

REE 241 - Electrical Power (4)

Fundamentals of electrical power; maximum power transfer, single-phase circuits, three-phase circuits, wye-delta transformations, power factor, harmonics.  Electrical power systems studied include: transmission lines, power transformers, autotransformers, three-phase transformers, resonance and power factor correction, building electrical systems, the national power grids. 
Prerequisite: EE 223; MATH 252 with grade C or better.
Corequisite: REE 242

REE 242- Electrical Power Lab (1)

Measurements of AC single phase, three-phase, and power factor parameters. Resonant circuit and transformer circuits analysis based on circuit measurements and computer simulation using Electronics Workbench. Written laboratory reports containing circuit schematics, calculations, measured data and analysis of calculations and measurements are required.
Corequisite: REE 241

REE 251- Electric Motors(3)

AC machines, including single phase, split-phase and three-phase (induction and synchronous machines) motors and generators; introduction to power switching devices, speed control and brushless DC motors.  DC machines including shunt, series and compound.  Control devices and circuits, including ladder diagrams.                   Prerequisite: EE 223; MATH 252 with grade C or better. 
Corequisite: REE 252

REE 252- Electric Motors Lab (2)

Application of instruments in measuring performance characteristics of fractional horsepower DC and AC motors. Written laboratory reports containing circuit schematics, calculations, measured data and analysis of calculations and measurements are required.
Corequisite: REE 251.

REE 315 - Digital Logic (3)

Number systems; combinational logic including Boolean algebra, DeMorgan's Theorems and Karnaugh Maps; digital TTL and CMOS IC characteristics; conventional IC functions; an introduction to sequential logic including flip-flops, counters, registers and state diagrams.
Prerequisites: EET 125
Corequisite:  EET 244

REE 316 - Digital Logic Lab (1)

Selected combination and sequential logic circuits will be simulated using computers and bread boarded.   IC characteristics and functions investigated in working digital circuits.  Measurements of propagation delays, race conditions and power consumption; use of logic analyzers.  Written laboratory reports required. 
Corequisite:  REE 315  

REE 331 - Fuel Cells (3)

Introduction to fuel cells including: brief history of fuel cell development; thermodynamics and electrochemical kinetics of fuel cells; fuel cell chemical reactions; fuel cell electro chemical kinetics; fuel cell components; fuel cell systems; fuel cell catalysts; direct methanol fuel cells and fuel cell applications.
Prerequisites: CHE 260 and PHY 223 with grade C or better.

REE 339 - Senior Project I (2)

Selection, definition, and analysis of a problem suitable for a renewable energy systems senior project prior to actual project development. Includes consideration of project parameters, and implications, proposal of alternate solutions, and justification of selected solution. Culminates in the writing of project proposal.
Prerequisite: Senior standing in the REE progra
Corequisite: WRI 327.

REE 345 - Wind Power (3)

Introduction to power production from wind resources.  Historical uses of wind resources.  The Earth's wind systems.  Physics of wind power.  Vertical and horizontal axis turbines.  Aerodynamics of wind turbines.  Large-scale turbine farms and sighting.  Commercial development, economics and environmental impacts.
Prerequisite: PHY 222, REE 251.

REE 346 - Biofuels and Biomass (3)

Introduction to power production from biomass resources.  Historical uses of biomass resources.  Biomass as a solar energy store; forestry and agricultural sources, crop wastes.  Recycled sources; municipal solid wastes, landfill gas.  Gaseous fuels; anaerobic digestion, gasification, liquid fuels, fermentation, hydrolysis, transesterfication Prerequisite: PHY 222, CHE 222.

REE 347 - Hydroelectric Power(3)

 Introduction to hydro-resource power production.  Hydropower in history.  Physics of hydrology.  Power, head, flow-rate.  Turbine hydrodynamics; Francis, Kaplin, Pelton, Turgo, cross-flow.  System components; generators, governors, penstocks, spillways, valves, gates, trashracks.  Large-scale and microhydroelectic systems.  Pumped storage.  Economic, environmental considerations.
Prerequisite: MECH 218, REE 251

REE 348 - Solar Thermal Energy Systems(3)

Introduction to solar thermal energy systems for residential, commercial and industrial applications.  Solar radiation; topics in heat transfer; flat plate and concentrating collectors; non-imaging optics; applications including water heating, building heating, cooling, industrial process heat, distillation, solar thermal power systems.        Prerequisite: MECH 323, PHY 223.

REE 465 - Renewable Energy Transportation System (3)

Renewable energy transportation systems including fuelcell, hybrid, electric, bio-diesel, high-efficiency diesel and gas turbine prime mover systems. Topics include fuel-air mixing, fuel storage, fuel delivery, cooling, fuel leak detection, and electrical power and control systems, and chemical safety. 
Prerequisites: MECH 323, REE 251

REE 412 - Photovoltaics Systems (3)

Grid-connected and stand-alone PV systems. Module and array performance analyzed using Sandias IV tracer software. PV system components including batteries, PV modules, charge controllers, maximum power point trackers and inverters will be discussed. Power inverter parameters will be evaluated.  
Prerequisite: EE 343

REE 413- PV Power Systems (3)

Review of power BJT and FET characteristics and power amplifiers; study of power inverter topologies, DC to DC, DC to AC, inverter control; resonant inverters; charge controllers; maximum power point trackers; and sun tracker controllers. 
Prerequisites: EE 419, REE 412

REE 421 - Energy Systems Design (3)

Integration of energy system functions in a typical building including: codes and standards; energy economics; electrical system optimization; waste heat recovery; utility system optimization; HVAC and building system optimization. 
Prerequisites: MECH 323

REE 439 - Energy Systems Mgmt & Auditing (3)

Analysis of thermal and electrical loading of buildings and industrial processes; evaluation of electrical loading and timing and efficiency of load components. Improving efficiency of thermal and electrical loads, including economic analysis. Application of renewable energy in the analysis of loading and efficiency. 
Prerequisite: REE 421.

REE - Senior Project II (2)

A continuation of RES 439. Prototype construction of project solution begins. Written documentation is produced including design calculations and functional analysis of hardware and/or software needed for project solution. The documentation becomes chapter two of the final senior project report. 
Prerequisite: REE 339. 
Corequisite: WRI 322.

REE 451 - Geothermal Ground-Source Heat Pumps (2)

 An introduction to geothermal energy resources. Discussion of heat flow mechanisms. Investigation into heat exchange systems including: binary, flash, double flash, total flow. Application of thermal dynamics in analysis, design and control of heating/cooling systems. 
Prerequisite: MECH 323

REE 455 - Zero Net Energy Building (3)

Green building, passive thermal architecture, super insulation, tight envelope, renewable energy sources for heating/cooling and electrical power. 
Prerequisite: REE 453 with grade C or better.

REE 459 - Senior Project III (3)

Completion of the project proposed in RES 439 and designed in RES 449. Documentation with specifications, functional description, calculations, test results, schematics, graphs, flowcharts, parts lists, diagrams and photographs become part of the project final report. The student will defend their project before a review panel. 
Prerequisite: REE 449.
Corequisite: WRI 323.

REE 463 - Energy Systems Instrumentation (3)

Application of electronic, mechanical and computer control to photovoltaic, fuel-cell, ground-source heating/cooling, and wind energy systems. Determination of physical parameters necessary to control and data-log energy systems are discussed. Design of instrumentation necessary to provide control and data logging.
Prerequisites: MECH 436, REE 421