Information Updated January 2018
Jennifer Clemons is the lead faculty for the Renewable Energy Solar Program at Delaware Technical Community College
2012
Primarily Delaware, but some from MD and PA
Fall 2017 – 20 students (down since Fall 2016, had 31 students)
Jennifer Clemons is the only Solar Faculty member. She teaches all of the PV courses, and also oversees the other AAS programs in Energy Management and Building Automation.
The program is a 2 year AAS degree.
The first Photovoltaics course is offered in the third semester.
Gender: Male 90%, Female 10%
Ethnicity: Caucasian 75%, African American 25%
Veterans: 15%
Non-Traditional Age (over 25 years): 50%
Associate Degree in Applied Science: Renewable Energy Solar
Introduction to Solar
Face-To-Face
Intro to Solar course is a 4 credit class in a program that requires 66 credits. The course meets for 3 lecture hours and 2 lab hours a week, or 80 hours a semester.
The energy programs are housed in the Center for Energy Education and Training (CEET) building. This facility was built in 2012 to host the energy programs and is LEED platinum certified. The facility is approximately 7,500 square feet. It contains 2 classrooms (which seat 16 each.) There is the potential for 3 lab spaces (large lab can be separated with collapsible doors; we usually leave them open.)
Labor market study was completed to get the BAS degree program started. There was some research done back in 2010 (before I got here.) I am told all the research said to start one program at one campus, but the college decided to try it all three campuses. Currently we are restructuring back to a single campus offering all of the programs. Students can complete the bulk of the associate degree requirements at any campus, but the solar specific courses are only offered at the Terry Campus in Dover DE (center of the state.)
We meet with our advisory board 3 times a year. The board is extensive and is made up with representatives of many different industries. We have the advisory board review courses and alignments to industry standards. Advisory board members are also invited to our Capstone Presentations in May. All the potential graduates in all three programs get together and present their final projects. We include lunch and networking for the students and industry partners.
We require all students to do a work experience. (This can be either internship or Co-Op.) Students are required to work in the field for 144 hours, to gain the 3 credits required. Every student who has completed the work experience has at least one job offer.
We also started our own job board email list serve. I auto-enroll all students at the beginning of the semester with their school and personal emails. All job opportunities are sent to all students enrolled in the energy technology programs.
View the syllabus for Delaware Technical Community College's Photovoltaic Systems I course, or visit DTCC directly for more information on their Applied Associate Degree program.
View Syllabus 🔒Visit DTCCView all Solar Energy Program Profiles