BEE 4010 - Renewable Energy Systems

(CU-SBY)

Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Prerequisite: BEE 2220 or ENGRD 2210, or BEE 3310 or CEE 3310.

M. B. Timmons.

Introduces energy systems with emphasis on quantifying costs and designing/optimizing renewable energy systems to convert environmental inputs into useful forms of energy. Covers solar energy, small-scale hydropower, wind, bio-conversion processes, house energy balances, and psychrometric principles as applied to biomass drying. Focuses on the technologies and small-scale system design, not policy issues. Use of spreadsheets is extensive. Personal laptop computers are highly recommended for each class. Class time is often focused on solving weekly homework problems. Required term project that student selects a client and develops a project proposal on a self-selected renewable energy project.

Outcome 1: An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs.

Outcome 2: An ability to create sustainable solutions in the context of a complex natural environment.