Students may seek to undertake a five-year full-time combined program leading to the award of the degrees of Bachelor of Engineering in Photovoltaics and Solar Energy and a Bachelor of Science (BE BSc). Students complete a full professionally accredited 4-year Engineering program (which includes Science courses) and add an additional 5th year to augment the Science component of the combined degree program.

The broad objective of the program is to produce well educated graduates with the basic skills, attributes and knowledge required to practice as professional engineers.

The program aims to produce graduates that are self-motivated; lifelong learners; critical thinkers; problem solvers; independent investigators; team players; good communicators; effective managers; and are environmentally, socially and ethically responsible. More specifically, the Centre hopes to train and educate engineers to cater for the needs of the rapidly growing and evolving photovoltaics industry.

Students in each course are assessed by way of assignments, tutorials, laboratory/project work and formal examinations. In a small number of courses/projects students are also assessed on their communication, leadership skills and project management through seminar presentations, reports and their demonstrated ability to manage a group/project.

Offering the Photovoltaics and Solar Energy Engineering program in combination with a Bachelor of Science, enables students with broader interests to simultaneously pursue a second degree which will extend their skill set and knowledge beyond the professionally oriented engineering program.

Students should start discussing their program with representatives of the Faculty of Science as soon as possible, preferrably well before enrolment in Year 2. Enquiries should be directed to the Executive Officer in the Science Student Centre, or the Associate Dean for Student Affairs in the Faculty of Science.

Students should work out for themselves the Science program they would like to add to the Photovoltaics and Solar Energy Engineering program. The Faculty of Science section in this Handbook describes the options. There are no special rules on what to include in each year. Students should schedule the Science and Engineering components to suit their preferences while meeting the constraints of timetables and prerequisites.

The Science component must be approved by the Faculty of Science.

The final program and schedule must be approved by the Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering.

(a) BE with Honours
On completion of the requirements for the combined degree a student may qualify for the award of the BE degree with Honours in accordance with the rules for the BE in Photovoltaics and Solar Energy Engineering and the Faculty of Engineering rules for calculation of the grade of Honours (1st Class Honours: a weighted average of 75% or greater; 2nd Class Honours Division 1: a weighted avergae of 70% or greater; 2nd Class Honours Division 2: a weighted average of 65% or greater, a student being awarded the highest grade of Honours for which they qualify).

(b) BSc with Honours
On completion of the requirements of the combined degree a student may be qualified to enrol in an Honours program in the Bachelor of Science and to qualify for the award of the BSc with Honours after successfully completing an additional year of study (48 Units of Credit) as specified in the rules of the Faculty of Science.

To qualify for the Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Science a student must complete successfully courses that total at least 240 units of credit and include:

(a) In the Faculty of Engineering:
Courses making up a full 4-year engineering program described in the degree requirements for the Photovoltaics and Solar Energy Engineering program; and

(b) In the Faculty of Science:
At least 102 units of credit comprising a major in an approved disciplinary stream described in the Science section of this Handbook, or a major in Computer Science; and

(c) At least 60 days of approved industrial training (required for the award of the BE degree)

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following web-page:  https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/fees/FeesMainPage.html