EnLighten: A Photovoltaics Learning Environment in Virtual Reality

Abstract

Past examples have illustrated the potential for virtual reality (VR) in educational settings, allowing students the exploration of complex and otherwise hardly accessible learning objects and content. We introduce a VR-photovoltaics learning application. Replicated from a real photovoltaics(PV)-array, we designed a VR-application where students can inspect PV-modules and explore their distinct characteristics. By using current and historical data from the real PV-array through a network interface, combined with a dynamic weather system, a great versatility in scenarios to experiment and learn with can be created. In its modular conceptualization, the current version of the application offers flexible expandability for diverse learning scenarios with multiple data sources.