Financing and Deploying Clean Energy Certificate Program

Curriculum and Format

Overview

Graphic outline of the FDCE courses

Detail

The FDCE program consists of:

  • a one-week How to Study Online Module
  • a four-week self-paced Foundations Course (Energy Foundations - three weeks at the start of the Fall semester and Finance Foundations - one week at the start of the Spring semester)
  • a one-week Online Orientation, and
  • four eight-week Core Courses delivered at the same pace to the whole FDCE cohort.

The academic year starts in July and ends in May the following year. 

All online course material is made accessible through Yale's online platform, Canvas. Admitted participants receive a link to the canvas platform on the day the How to Study Online Module opens in July.

How to Study Online Module

In 2023, the program will kick off in July with a one-week Module on How to Study Online, which takes up to two hours to complete over one week. It is asynchronous and self-paced and a way to get familiar with the platforms and the tools you will be using over the next academic year.

Energy Foundations Course

Next, a three-week Energy Foundations Course will open, aimed at bringing the cohort up to speed on the basics of energy concepts.

The How to Study Online Module and the Foundations Course (both the Energy Section and the Finance Section which opens later in the year) are entirely self-paced and do not require you to log in at specific times.

All three weeks' worth of material in the Energy Foundations Course is made available at the same time and takes approximately 15 hours to complete. While the participants are able to interact with one another during the Energy Foundations Course, the course is designed for you to go through it on your own, without input or feedback from your instructors.

The Energy Foundations Course is required for all participants unless you opt out based on the results of a very short placement test when the course opens. Participants who opt out are still encouraged to take the course. 

Online Orientation

After the Energy Foundations Course, the cohort will meet for the first time in August online during the FDCE Online Orientation. Participants will meet their peers, learn the basics of team dynamics to address the challenges of collaborating online, and expand their professional networks.

Core Courses

Immediately following the FDCE Online Orientation, participants will begin the first of four eight-week online Core Courses, which run from August through May. The Core Courses are where most of the teaching and learning take place and are a mix of synchronous and asynchronous activities. Core courses all include a mandatory weekly one-hour live session on Zoom on Thursdays at noon EST.

You can learn more about the structure of the Core Courses here, and read more about the content of the Core Courses here.

Finance Foundations Course

The Spring semester starts in January with a one-week entirely self-paced Finance Foundations Course prior to the start of the Renewable Energy Project Finance Core Course. Like the Energy Foundations Course, this Finance Foundations Course is entirely asynchronous and required, but you may be able to opt out based on the placement test released the same day as the course opens.