An Augmented Reality Based Modular Platform for Solar Energy Education

In recent years, renewable energy consumption has been rapidly increasing instead of fossil energy sources for countless reasons. Installation or maintenance of the renewable energy power plants are very important in terms of energy quality, installation and maintain personnel's safety. The same manner and in with the by same methods in each power plant installation the applying same standard is very important. Unfortunately, enough number personnel could not have been trained to meet this service as parallel with the rapid increased need for renewable energy. One of the areas with qualified personnel shortage is solar energy systems. It is seen in the literature that the use of virtual reality in education has become widespread. The use of augmented reality in engineering education increases the quality of education and shortens the learning process time. It is inevitable that sufficient number of personnel will be trained in this field in a short time. This training method will enable the personnel to follow the same standard and same process steps to be trained in a shorter time and safely. In this study, an augmented reality has been applied in the training of the personnel in the installation of the solar energy system. From the results obtained, it was concluded that it can be used as training material in certificate programs with vocational and technical school students doing solar energy education.