Design of rooftop PV system training equipment for competency testing

Rooftop PV training equipment holds significant urgency in addressing the growing demand for skills enhancement in renewable energy, particularly Solar Power Plants. Developing practical learning tools in the field of PV systems can make a substantial contribution to meeting industrial needs and creating appropriate educational resources to enhance human resource capabilities in renewable energy utilization, specifically solar energy. This study aims to produce training equipment that is efficiently designed to be used for both educational purposes and competency testing in rooftop PV system installation. The research employs the Research and Development (R&D) method to design, develop, and test a training tool as a competency testing medium for PV system installations. The outcome is an innovative training product that serves as a practical learning tool in educational environments for competency assessment. The equipment is designed as an on-grid PV system, simplified into two main components. The first component is the rooftop installation block, where trainees can practice assembling solar panel arrays resembling actual rooftops, with a capacity of 600 Wp. The second component is the load simulation block, where trainees perform electrical installations and simulate power flow processes using an inverter with a capacity of 1200 W. Performance testing showed that the rooftop PV training equipment could produce 39.5 kWh of electricity over 12 days, with an average daily production of 3.29 kWh. It achieved a performance ratio (PR) of 91%, indicating excellent operational performance with minimal system losses.