Financing and Deploying Clean Energy Certificate Program
Curriculum and Format
The FDCE program consists of:
- a self-paced How to Study Online Course
- two self-paced Foundations Courses (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 Course opens.
How to Study Online Course
In July, the program will kick off with a one-week course titled "How to Study Online." Designed to take up to two hours to complete, this asynchronous and self-paced course is a way to get familiar with the platforms and the tools you will be using over the next academic year.
Online Orientation
After the How to Study Online Course, the cohort will convene for the first time 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. There are daily, required midday sessions held on Zoom, 11:30 a.m. ET to 1:00 p.m. ET and a number of optional sessions held at other times during the week.
Energy Foundations Course
Next, you'll begin a three-week, self-paced Energy Foundations Course aimed at bringing you up to speed on the basics of energy concepts.
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 you will be able to interact with fellow participants 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.
Core Courses
Immediately following the close of the Energy Foundations Course, participants will begin the first of four eight-week online Core Courses, which run 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 ET.
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, though you may be able to opt out based on the placement test released the same day as the course opens.