The Campus as a Living Lab
Topic Areas: Curriculum - Institutionalizing Sustainability
Course Redesign for Renewable Energy
Engineering Physics Advanced Lab
California Higher Education Sustainability Conference
Tuesday June 17th 2014
Erik B. Helgren
Dept. of Physics
California State University East Bay
Motivation: to provide Physics Lab experiments and
curriculum pertaining to the sustainable and renewable
energy infrastructure already present at the CSUEB campus!
Motivation: to provide Physics Lab experiments and
curriculum pertaining to the sustainable and renewable
energy infrastructure already present at the CSUEB campus!
The CSUEB Physical Plant (Sustainable Technologies):
• Over 1 MW of peak power solar photovoltaic panels on
the rooftops of four buildings
• A 1.4 MW Fuel Cell operated by PG&E – vendor Fuel
Cell Energy Inc. Danbury, Connecticut
Motivation: to provide Physics Lab experiments and
curriculum pertaining to the sustainable and renewable
energy infrastructure already present at the CSUEB campus!
The CSUEB Physical Plant (Sustainable Technologies):
• Over 1 MW of peak power solar photovoltaic panels on
the rooftops of four buildings
• A 1.4 MW Fuel Cell operated by PG&E – vendor Fuel
Cell Energy Inc. Danbury, Connecticut
These are the technologies I wanted to teach about in the classroom and
develop hands on labs for the students to learn about them.
Students ran the “Introduction to Fuel
Cell Technology Lab”
$600 per fuel cell kit
Students carried out all the steps needed to convert a silicon “wafer” into a
working solar cell:
• “Spin coat” a “p-type” wafer of silicon with an “n-type” dopant oxide
• Put the silicon wafer in a furnace – this allows the n-type dopant to diffuse into
the silicon
• Dip the silicon wafer in acid to “etch” or “eat away” the silicon oxide
• Make metallic “contacts to the front and back surfaces (silver paint)
• Go out in the sunshine and measure!
Thanks to colleagues
at SJSU for use of their
Microscale Process
Engineering Lab!
Students built an “off Grid” solar station, then designed and built electronic
components to compare efficiencies of the commercial system to their own.
This lab was inspired by a Physics Today Article
T. W. Murphy Jr., “Home Photovoltaic Systems for Physicists,”
pp. 42-47, AIP publisher, July 2008
This open-ended lab allowed students to
pursue their own interests; from
electrical circuit design to building the
panel support structures – the
Engineering Physics overlap!
White Papers and a final Oral Presentation on a topic
relevant to sustainability:
• The Cost for CSUEB to Subsidize E-car Fuel
• CSUEB Concord Campus Solar Installation Evaluation
• Cost/Benefit Analysis of Parking Lot Solar Canopies at CSUEB
• Carbon Sequester and Sequestration Using Algae
Bioreactors
• A review of Fracking and its Effects in California
Students met with scientists at the Advanced Light Source working on renewable
energy materials science and technology; e.g. testing novel PV and battery materials
Representatives from PG&E and
Fuel Cell Energy Inc. provided a
“behind the fence” tour of the
CSUEB Fuel Cell system
Under construction
President Morishita ribbon cutting 2011
Pre and Post course assessment surveys:
Assessment focused on content knowledge to be covered in the
class on the topic of sustainability and the Physics and technology
of solar photovoltaic materials and fuel cell systems:
• What is the cost of electric power?
• What is the typical efficiency of a
commercial solar panel?
• Define “Sustainability” and can
you list an example of
sustainability here at CSUEB?
“What is the cost of electric power?”
Borrowed this “Lecture Starter” question from Rob Knapp (The
Evergreen State College), who presented this at the APS “Physics
of Sustainable Energy Conference,” UC Berkeley, April 2014
Pre and Post course assessment surveys:
Assessment focused on content knowledge to be covered in the
class on the topic of sustainability and the Physics and technology
of solar photovoltaic materials and fuel cell systems:
• What is the cost of electric power?
• What is the typical efficiency of a
commercial solar panel?
• Define “Sustainability” and can
you list an example of
sustainability here at CSUEB?
Pre: 41% correct
Post: 82% correct
Pre and Post course assessment surveys:
Assessment focused on content knowledge to be covered in the
class on the topic of sustainability and the Physics and technology
of solar photovoltaic materials and fuel cell systems:
• What is the cost of electric power?
• What is the typical efficiency of a
commercial solar panel?
• Define “Sustainability” and can
you list an example of
sustainability here at CSUEB?
Pre: 41% correct
Post: 82% correct
Also asked for feedback on the post
course survey, e.g. :
“My favorite experiment was making
our own solar cell from the silicon
wafer. I learned a lot about
efficiencies in solar cells.”
The course redesign of Physics 3281 at CSUEB enabled
by the Chancellor’s Office Campus as a Living Lab grant:
• Raised students awareness of sustainability efforts at
the CSUEB campus: Solar PV and Fuel Cell as part of
the physical plant at CSUEB
• Provided a framework to teach Green Energy and
Semiconductor Industry Physics and Engineering
principles to our students
Contact: erik.helgren@csueastbay.edu