M-061 Passive Solar Heating: 3 PDH

Description of the Passive Solar Heating course

The Passive Solar Heating online 3 PDH course is a part of the Mechanical Engineering category of courses.

The principles of passive solar heating, such as basic types of systems, their description, and the components making up any passive system are presented in this course.  Sources of data for heating requirements and available solar radiation throughout the U.S are identified and discussed along with a method for estimating the rate of heat loss from a home.  The use of these three inputs in a method for estimating performance of a passive heating system of specified size at a specified location is presented.  The data retrieval and calculations are illustrated with numerous examples.

This course is intended for mechanical, electrical, chemical and energy engineers, and architects.  It will also be of interest to any engineers wanting to learn more about the renewable energy field.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this PDH online continuing education course, you will:

• Be able to name the six components which typically make up a passive solar heating system
• Be able to name five basic types of passive solar heating systems
• Be able to describe the differences between daytime and nighttime operation of direct gain passive solar heating systems
• Be able to describe the differences between daytime and nighttime operation of indirect gain passive solar heating systems
• Be able to obtain and interpret data for solar radiation rate on vertical and horizontal surfaces of buildings at any of the 239 locations in the NREL database
• Be able to obtain and interpret data for heating degree days at any of the 239 locations in the NREL database
• Be able to estimate the rate of heat loss (Btu/oF-day/ft2) from a building if one year’s monthly power bills for the building are available
• Be able to estimate the monthly percentage of a buildings heating requirement provided by a given size passive solar heating system at a given location in the U.S., with specified rate of heat loss from the building (Btu/oF-day/ft2)
• Be able to estimate the quantity of thermal storage needed for a passive solar heating system with specified area of glazing
• Be able to calculate the NREL recommended height of an awning above the top of a window of specified dimensions at any of the 239 location in the NREL manual in order to provide summer shading of the window
• Be able to calculate the NREL recommended distance that an awning should extend out from a window of specified dimensions at any of the 239 location in the NREL manual in order to provide summer shading of the window
• Be able to use the NASA POWER website at: power.larc.nasa.gov to obtain monthly average incident solar radiation data for any location in the world based on the latitude and longitude of the site

Refunds and Cancellation Policies

The online PDH course is accepted as continuing education activity by the Professional Engineering boards in states listed on this page. In an unlikely case the course is not accepted by the board listed on this page, we will refund the full payment and will pay for you to take another course of equivalent monetary and PDH / CEU value. For complete list of courses related to Mechanical Engineering category of courses please click here.

Length of the Course / Activity

This course is intended to be studied at self-pace and it should take on average of 3 hour to read and be able to comprehend the material to successfully past the online quiz.

Course Quiz

To receive the certificate of completion for the above 3 PDH online course, you will need to take a 15-question multiple choice quiz based on the reference material supplied and pass with minimum score of 70%. There is no time limit for the quiz and it can be taken multiple times until a passing score of 70% is achieved.

Certificate of Completion

Once you achieve a passing score of 70% on the quiz you will receive and be able to print your Certificate of Completion as a record of your continuing education. PDH Star will keep a record of your certificate for the duration as required by your state of licensure. You will be able to log on to your account and view and print your past Certificate of Completion.

State Acceptance

This course is accepted in all states mandating continuing education:

AK, AL, AR, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WI, WV, and WY

For detailed state by state requirements click here.

Need help?

Do you need help choosing the right course or package for you? Please give us a call or send us an email and we will be happy to provide guidance on which courses are most relevant for you and create a customary course package.