Being able to understand and read construction drawings means everyone onsite and at the office can speak the same language. It’s an absolute necessity for teams, especially when working on utility scale solar projects. Get everyone on the same page by taking HeatSpring’s new Understanding Utility Scale Solar Construction Drawings course taught by HeatSpring instructor Andy Nyce. 

Comprehending how to read and use construction drawings is a critical skill and an absolute necessity for upward mobility in the utility scale solar space. These drawings provide a detailed overview of the entire project, including the location of the solar panels, inverters, transformers, other electrical components, and more.

Here’s what you’ll learn

The course is broken up into three sections: Basics of Solar PV, Basics of Construction Drawings, and Details of Construction Drawings.

The Basics of Solar PV section goes over the foundational knowledge to understand how electrical flow happens on PV sites and in construction drawings. Learners will also gain an understanding of how projects come to be. Especially for utility scale projects, there is quite a bit of complexity related to key players and the timeline for projects to come to fruition. 

The Basics of Construction Drawings is an overview of the types of drawings you will likely encounter, the critical phases of design, and key processes and terminology. 

The Details of Construction Drawings is where students will learn all the fundamentals of construction drawings and deep dive into electrical, civil, and mechanical drawing sets. 

This course is ideal for folks who are interested in pursuing a career in the solar energy sector, as well as professionals who are already working in the sector but want to grow their knowledge and skills into the utility scale solar space.

About the instructor

Originally from New Zealand, Andy Nyce has spent the last nine years in the United States in a range of engineering, construction, project management and quality control roles in the large scale renewables industry. He’s been directly involved in over 1.5GW of execution at every level of installation, management and commissioning.

Andy is currently the Director of Project Management at Erthos – a company approaching the design, installation and maintenance of utility scale solar from a completely new angle, with disruptive new technologies and approaches.

He holds a Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering (Hons) from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, and he’s currently completing a Masters in Renewable Energy (via distance learning) from Murdoch University in Perth, Australia.