Professional Certificate in Electrical Power Systems for Non-Engineers

Module 1: Overview of Electrical Power Systems and Basic Concepts

• Units and electrical quantities
• Voltage, current, resistance, power, energy, frequency
• Inductance and capacitance
• Ohm’s law, RMS and average values
• Single and three phase systems
• Power factor

Module 2: Power Generation Transmission and Distribution

• Various forms of energy, energy conversion
• Modern power station
• Coal-fired power plant, hydro and nuclear
• Impact on environment
• Solar, wind, geothermal
• Transmission of electricity, distribution
• Power demand and tariffs, power factor
• HVDC

Module 3: Electrical Measurements and Applications

• Electrical parameters – W/VA/VAr
• Measuring
• Power and energy measurement
• Smart metering
• Measuring voltages, currents and resistance

Module 4: Transformers

• Magnetic fields
• Electromagnetic fields
• Transformer operation
• Step down and step up
• Construction
• Single and polyphase transformers
• Cooling
• Oils and coolants
• Efficiency
• Tap changers
• Voltage regulation
• Earthing (also known as grounding) of transformers

Module 5: Earthing Systems

• Need for earthing (grounding), direct and indirect
• Shocks, touch and step potential
• Types of earthing (grounding), system and protective earthing
  (grounding), isolation
• Earth conductors and electrodes
• Measurement of earth resistance
• Lightning protection
• Bonding connection

Module 6: Power System Protection

• Incipient and solid faults
• Need for protection, overloads, overvoltage and overcurrent
• Fuses, circuit breakers, relays
• Protection of equipment

Module 7: Fuses Circuit Breakers Relays

• Isolation
• Electrical faults,
• Fuses
• Isolation, switching, tripping
• Circuit breakers
• Components of circuit breakers
• Medium voltage circuit breakers

Module 8: Electrical Rotating Machines AC/DC

• Basic principles
• Machines
• DC motor operation
• Speed, flux and armature voltage
• Speed control
• Single phase AC motors
• 3-phase induction motor
• Synchronous machines
• Torque versus speed
• Efficiency and power factor

Module 9: Electrical Lighting and Illumination

• Incandescent lamps, high intensity discharge lamps, mercury vapour,
  metal halide lamps, fluorescent lamps, compact fluorescent lamps,
  LEDs
• Luminaire concepts
• Energy efficiency

Module 10: Electrical Heating in Industry

• Principles of heating, electrical heating, resistance heating
• Welding
• Electric arc furnaces
• Induction heating

Module 11: Power Electronics and Applications

• Semiconductor devices
• Motor controllers
• Rectifiers
• AC motors and soft starting
• Variable speed drives

Module 12: Power Quality

• Power quality problems
• Voltage variations
• Overvoltage and under-voltages
• Voltage imbalances
• Voltage and frequency variations
• Interruptions and surges
• Lightning and harmonics
• Harmonic compensation

Module 13: Electrical Safety and National Electrical Codes

• Key elements of National Electrical Codes (AS3000/NEC/CEC/SANS)
• Electrical hazards
• Electrical shock
• Arc flash and burns
• Personal protective equipment
• Safety through better design and installation
• Work permits
• Permitted personnel
• Training and first aid
• Legislation

Module 14: Customer Installations

• Metering and billing
• Tariff structures
• Connections

Module 15: The Engineering Team

• Design rules, specification, procurement
• Installation
• Commissioning
• Punch list of defects
• Contractual disputes
• Certificate of compliance

Module 16: Planning and Load Forecasting

• Load forecasting principles
• Forward planning
• Supply and demand side management
• Evaluation of electrical projects

Module 17: Modern Developments

• The smart grid
• Substation automation and industrial IT
• Data communications (including wireless)
• Cost of carbon/emissions trading

Upon completion, students should be able to:

• Explain the principles of electrical system earthing and protective earthing.
• Research and describe the procedure for designing an appropriate earthing system for electrical substations, including methods for measuring earth resistance and earth fault loop resistance.
• Recognize the need for lightning protection in buildings and electrical facilities and outline the basic approach for evaluating the effectiveness of protection systems.
• Design a comprehensive lightning and surge protection system for a building and assess its effectiveness.
• Identify electrical safety hazards in various environments and implement appropriate risk prevention and control measures.
• Discuss electrical safety legislation relevant in Australia and explain its impact on the design and operation of electrical systems.

Behrouz Ghorbanian

To obtain a certificate of completion for this Self-paced Professional Certificate of Competency, students must complete 4 quizzes with a score of 100%. If a student does not achieve the required score, they will be able to reattempt the quiz to obtain the required score.

When you pay for this course, your payment will expire 180 days from the payment date. During this 180-day period, you may attempt the course multiple times. If you don’t earn your Certificate within 180 days, you’ll need to pay the fee again.

Payments for this course are made through our secure payment process on Stripe.

Designed for maximum flexibility, this online, self-paced program is structured to accommodate the schedules of full-time professionals. Expect to dedicate approximately 10 hours to the core content, in addition to any supplemental reading and study time.

Registrations are open for our upcoming intakes. As this is a self-paced course, your access begins from the date of payment.