Wind Energy Technician

Hours: 265 / Access Length: 12 Months / Delivery: Online, Self-Paced

Course Overview:

As the world’s shift away from reliance on fossil fuels the Wind Energy Industry leads the way. In just a few short decades wind energy has evolved dramatically. Technological advances now make wind energy a cost-effective solution for the world’s ever-growing energy needs. The United States leads in the overall wind power capacity. As the wind energy industry continues to expand in the United States and around the globe, it will provide many opportunities for workers in search of new careers. These careers extend beyond the wind farm and include the efforts of employees who work in manufacturing plants, offices, and construction, as well as operation and maintenance. 

This course provides learners with an overview of wind-energy history, basic concepts, costs, and uses. It is designed for the novice and emphasizes an overview of wind-energy conversion and applications of various wind-turbine systems. Some additional course features include: wind turbine blades, installing and troubleshooting wind turbines, motors, towers, and electrical coverage.

About ProTrain:

ProTrain is committed to offering world class interactive online courses that provide training and learning support for the student in a number of ways during their experience. The ProTrain course structure has been developed to provide activities to guide students throughout the entire process of learning. Learning activities include hands-on assignments that allow students to use what they are learning to allow better transferable skills within their work environments; and collaborative assignments, like wikis and discussion groups that allow them to share what they have learned with others in the same course.

While a student learns, they are not alone. Each student will receive guidance and support from his or her assigned Training Assessment Manager (TAM) and Student Services Specialist (SSS) representative. In addition, we will offer live monthly webinars and feedback sessions for various subject categories. Throughout the entire course, students are monitored by the SSS representative using progress reporting from the ProTrain Registration System (PRS).

ProTrain will provide Students who successfully complete their online certification programs and pass their industry level certification exams the access to the new ProTrain Education-2-Employment Career Tracker system. The Career Tracker will allow our students who pass exams to load their own resumes at no additional cost, and letting industry employers find their talent through the same database.

Course Outline:

Lesson 1: Introduction to Wind Energy Tech

The introductory lesson will provide participants insight as to what persons working in the wind energy field would often encounter on a day-to-day basis. Additionally, it provides the necessary background knowledge to guide one to perform all tasks associated with wind energy equipment safely and efficiently. This chapter also provides insight into the remaining six (6) lessons of the course.

Lesson 2: Safety

The second lesson of the course comprehensively reviews various safety requirements, equipment, and techniques that must be used in order to operate, adjust, and/or repair wind energy equipment. Emphasis is paid towards safety within and around wind energy equipment, electrical and chemical safety, and the awareness of being in a tightly confined space. Participants are asked to review both the chapter materials and accompanying appendices in this lesson for maximum learning benefit.

Lesson 3: Equipment Testing & Inspection

An important part of maintaining equipment is to ensure it is operating safely and properly at all times. This lesson of the course will go over fundamental procedures, action steps, and key takeaways on the testing and inspection process. Inspections required to keep the equipment running smoothly covers many parts of the overall structure and its components in a wind energy product.

Lesson 4: Lubrication & Fluids

In order for wind energy equipment to operate day in and day out, it must be lubricated with special chemical compounds to prevent damage and the equipment going out of service. The third lesson of the course looks at different lubrication processes and fluids that are often used in wind energy equipment products. Additional details are included which provide recommended lubrication schedules, types of fluids used, and other systems that may be impacted by these. Participants are asked to review both the chapter materials and accompanying appendices in this lesson for maximum learning benefit.

Lesson 5: Hardware Bolting & Alignments

Wind energy equipment must withstand enormous amounts of force and energy in order to properly work. Ensuring they are properly secure both at the base of the structure all the way up to the rotor assembly is an important task that must not be taken lightly. Thus, this lesson in the course goes over common bolting patterns that one may see in wind energy equipment and required alignments that equipment must be within in to operate properly. Additional material provided in the appendices assigned for this lesson gives bonus material on torque values and power tool pressures versus torque tool converters.

Lesson 6: Wind Energy Tower Component Analysis - Part 1

Up to this point in the course, participants have gained an understanding of the safety aspects of being a wind energy technical professional and the preventive maintenances required to keep the equipment operating. But, specifically, what are those components? This lesson in the course begins with the first of two (2) parts to the core structures of a wind energy product. In focus here are the tower itself, machine head, and drive train that generates the power within the unit.

Lesson 7: Wind Energy Tower Component Analysis - Part 2

The final lesson focuses on the remaining wind energy device components that weren't discussed in the previous lesson. Components in focus for this lesson are ones which focus towards the top of wind energy devices as well as the exterior of the equipment. The drive train is also provided as a focus in this lesson. Upon completion of this lesson, participants of the course should have foundational knowledge to begin a career as a wind energy technician.

All necessary materials are included.

System Requirements:

Internet Connectivity Requirements:

• Cable, Fiber, DSL, or LEO Satellite (i.e. Starlink) internet with speeds of at least 10mb/sec download and 5mb/sec upload are recommended for the best experience.

NOTE: While cellular hotspots may allow access to our courses, users may experience connectivity issues by trying to access our learning management system.  This is due to the potential high download and upload latency of cellular connections.   Therefore, it is not recommended that students use a cellular hotspot as their primary way of accessing their courses.

Hardware Requirements:

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 4 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher.  1920x1080 resolution is recommended for the best experience.
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone for Webinar or Live Online sessions.

Operating System Requirements:

• Windows 7 or higher.
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions
  

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

Web Browser Requirements:

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

Basic Software Requirements (These are recommendations of software to use):

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is described in the above course outline.