Abstract:

For an adequate training at any engineering field, the experimental nature of the practice credits has a vital importance for the student formation. In other way, each academic year is increasing the number of Spanish Universities which are incorporating subjects directly related to Renewable Energies in their academic offer.
From this premise, some teachers of Electronics Technology area at the University of Jaén are implied in the implementation of a new degree: Industrial Electronics Engineering. Because of our researcher profile, in those subjects directly related to photovoltaic technology, we detect a serious drawback: It does not exist commercial equipment oriented to the university teaching, which can be acquired in the market, and help us to achieve the formation objectives for an engineer of this speciality.
In other way, during the last twenty years, researchers of IDEA (Investigation and Development in Solar Energy) have developed instruments designed and manufactured by ourselves, being these instruments essentials for our investigation works. As examples of these proposal designed by IDEA research group we can emphasize: specified software programs designed to solve punctual theoretical studies, self-designed electronics prototypes, or macro-systems “ad-hoc” designed, using commercial equipment scheduled or configured with an specific purpose.
In this framework, a teaching innovation project is developed. This project has as main objective to evaluate the viability of including those self-designed tools –used exclusively in IDEA research group laboratories until now- as teaching equipment in practice lessons.
The basic idea of the proposal is based on the design and latter construction of a processor system, based on a low-cost PIC (since now all constructed prototypes has been done according to 16F8XX family), which allows approaching practices in Solar Energy laboratory in an experimental way.
The subjects which will be better off with the implementation of the project are those ones directly related to Photovoltaic System Engineering, taught in Electronics area of Electronics and Automation Engineering department at the University of Jaén.
In the paper, the academic context in which this project is developed, its current state, and main results obtained until now, will be presented.

Keywords:

Photovoltaic Solar Energy teaching, practice lessons.