Solar Energy Basics Hits 50,000-plus Enrollments

5/2/2021

• Solar Energy Basics

Open Academy's non-credit Solar Energy Basics course on the Coursera platform recently hit a milestone of 50,000-plus enrollments since it launched back in 2019. It puts that course in the top 10 enrollments of SUNY courses on the Coursera platform, out of approximately 60 courses.

The course was developed by Dr. Neal Abrams, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry with instructional design and technical support from the Open Academy.

The course has a global reach, and has been subtitled into eight languages in addition to English. It's one of three courses on solar energy for Coursera developed by Abrams to provide learners with a foundation for designing photovoltaic systems. The second course, Solar Energy System Design, launched in the summer of 2020 and a third will launch this summer. Abrams has also been using these courses as part of a credit-bearing course this semester as part of the online Sustainability Management program, SUS 496- Solar Power: PV Design & Installation.