Electricity Distribution (edX)

In this class, learners will learn all about electricity infrastructure, including electricity generation, transmission, use and safety. The focus is on actual installations, so students can learn about electrical substations, 3-phase power distribution, typical power plant voltages, large transformers, as well as single-phase, split-phase, and 3-phase circuit breaker boxes and wiring setups found around the world. Learners will understand the importance of AC in an electricity grid, as well as grounding/earthing, pole transformer setups, as well as residual current/ground fault interrupt and safety setups and lightning protection.

What you'll learn

At the end of this MOOC, the learner will be able to discuss:

- Wire gauge

- Why AC is generally used for transmission instead of DC

- Why three phase is used and how to calculate line and phase voltages

- Circuit breakers, metering, fuses, lightning rods, residual current/GFCI devices, and grounding rods

- Star and delta transformers and electrical substation layout

- The electricity grid, and how it is generally designed

- Split phase, single phase, 2-phase, and 3-phase consumer units/breaker boxes

- How power is injected into the grid

- Typical grid voltages and power plant capacities

- Grid challenges with renewables, power output from solar farms

Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction (4 videos)

Week 2: Circuit Breakers and Residual Current Devices (7 videos)

Week 3: Polyphase power (6 videos)

Week 4: 3-phase transformers (3 videos)

Week 5: Split-phase power (3 videos)

Week 6: Electricity generation (5 videos)

Week 7: Electricity distribution (6 videos)