ENCN627-24S1 (C) Semester One 2024

Renewable Energy Technologies

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 19 February 2024
End Date: Sunday, 23 June 2024
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 3 March 2024
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 12 May 2024

Description

This course is about energy systems and sustainability. You will be introduced to renewable technologies, including solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal, and energy storage resources. You will also learn about the wider energy system, including low-energy buildings, transportation, demand side management, and energy futures. The course content will cover energy and sustainability from local to global perspectives.

This course is about energy systems and sustainability. You will be introduced to renewable
technologies, including solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal, and energy storage resources.
You will also learn about the wider energy system, including low-energy buildings,
transportation, demand side management, and energy futures. The course content will cover
energy and sustainability from local to global perspectives.

This course is double-coded as an undergraduate elective (ENCN423) and a foundational
postgraduate course (ENCN627) for renewable energy students. Postgraduate students have
additional learning objectives and assessments.

Learning Outcomes

 Describe and discuss the current and potential contribution of sustainable energy
resources to the global and New Zealand energy scenes, including energy access and
security aspects.
 Describe and discuss selected solar, wind, biomass, hydro and geothermal conversion
technologies.
 Analyse and quantify solar, biomass, wind, hydro and geothermal resources for a
given site, and carry out preliminary sizing calculations.
 Describe and discuss sustainable heat (including industrial applications and demandside
management), clean fuels, and sustainable transportation; and carry out
preliminary sizing calculations.
 Model a simple renewable energy system with energy storage.
 Critically analyse and contribute to current energy debates and energy transitions
(ENCN627 only).

Prerequisites

Approval from the Head of Department required

Restrictions

Timetable 2024

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Monday 10:00 - 12:00 E5 Lecture Theatre
19 Feb - 31 Mar
22 Apr - 2 Jun
Lecture B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Thursday 10:00 - 12:00 E5 Lecture Theatre
19 Feb - 31 Mar
29 Apr - 2 Jun

Timetable Note

Week 1 Introduction to renewable energy and energy systems
Week 2 Hydropower
Week 3 Wind
Week 4 Geothermal
Week 5 Biomass
Week 6 Biomass
Week 7 Solar
Week 8 Solar
Week 9 Energy storage
Week 10 Demand side management (heat)
Week 11 Industry and renewable fuels
Week 12 Transport

Note: This is a general guide for the course and is subject to change. Up-to date information will
be available on Learn.

Course Coordinator

Jannik Haas

Lecturer

Rebecca Peer

All communication for the course will be through lectures, tutorials, and Learn. The course
content will include a mixture of in-person lectures and tutorials as well as pre-recorded
material and class readings.

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Take-home test 45% Take-home test
Final exam 45% Final exam
Project 10% Project


This course has mid-course test, a final exam, and a project.

ENCN627
Take home test: 45% - Week 6
Final Exam: 45% - Exam Period
Project: 10% - Week12

The test for this course will be a take-home assessment. While you will have access to resources,
you are expected to do the assessment individually and adhere to the University assessment
policy. The test will be released at the beginning of week 6 and submission, via Learn, will be
open until Friday at 17:00. You are expected to follow the University and Department student
code of conduct and submit your own work.

The final exam will be 2 hours, held during the final exam period.

The project, only for ENCN627, will be announced during the first two weeks of the semester.
Tutorial sessions and practice problems will be provided to prepare for the course assessment.
Engagement with these is essential for your success in this course.

Textbooks / Resources

The following texts are required references for this course. They can be accessed online for free
through the UC library:

1. Tester, J. W. (2012). Sustainable energy: Choosing among options (2nd ed.). MIT Press.
2. MacKay, D. J. C. (2016). Sustainable energy-without the hot air. UIT. (also available here)
3. Sterner, M. and Stadler, I. (2014). Handbook of energy storage. Springer.

Any additional course material will be provided through the course Learn page.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,197.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Civil and Natural Resources Engineering .

All ENCN627 Occurrences

  • ENCN627-24S1 (C) Semester One 2024
Next year