## 3 Proposed Methodology to Incorporate Photovoltaic Systems into Virtual Reality Planning
### Virtual Reality Planning  
For explanation purposes, the Electromechanical Faculty of the University of Colima, Mexico is considered as the case study, it is located at latitude 19.1239 and longitude \(-\)104.4001. The installation is divided by buildings; each one is dimensioned according to its installed capacity, avoiding shadings. Figure 2 incorporates the 3D design of the 200 kW PV system. The user can virtually go through the facilities to be aware of details, permitting to interact with objects by clicking on the specific elements, such as the solar panel, to read its characteristics, like open-circuit voltage (Voc) and short-circuit current (Isc). Likewise for the voltage (Vmax) and current at maximum power (Imax), necessary for dimensioning the inverter and electrical protections. The students do a supervision activity where they are capable to act independently in the facilities, during the inspection, they can verify solar array connections, analyze the one-line diagram, and to measure the principal electrical variables without forgetting the use of personnel protection. Figure 3 shows that the first activity is the selection of appropriate gloves, boots, and safety helmet to avoid any accidents. Additional information may be obtained; for instance, the user can go to check the installation and get information about the system at each building. Figure 4 illustrates the user's view on a building, where it can be noticed that the solar panel characteristics are present on a text-board. At the same time, audio is explaining the selected features, such as the nominal power 320 Wp, open-circuit voltage Voc = 45.6 Volts, and a short circuit current Isc = 9.1 Amperes; additionally, the maximum power  
Figure 1: Proposed methodology for planning photovoltaic power plant (PV) in virtual reality (VR). Figure 2: 3D planning installation of the 200 kW PV system. voltage, Vmax = 37.4 Volts and the maximum power current Imax = 8.56 Amperes may be identified. The purpose is that the student can interact in a visual, auditory, and kinesthetic way to take into account the main variables when handling serial-shunt connections. In the case of the illustrated building Figure 5, there are 160 solar panels of 320 W and two 27 kW string inverters, with 80 panels connected to each inverter. The inverters have two maximum power point trackers (MPPT), so 40 panels are connected for each MPPT. Then, two parallels of 20 PV are series-connected in such a way that 912 V is attained at the input inverter with 18.2 A. In this activity, the student can verify the connection diagram by holding the user's hand and verifying their connections. The purpose of this activity is to obtain the input voltage and current variables to the inverter; these are also necessary to calculate the electrical protections on the DC side, such as fuses, fuse holders, circuit breaker, and surge protectors. During this activity, the amounts of needed material are also illustrated for the mounting system, in which the required rails, bolts, and accessories are explained. The purpose is to illustrate that every single detail is integrated into the project and that the student may verify it. The student can follow the connections from solar panels through the electric pipes until they reach the combiner box and review its wiring. Then, through text and audio explanation about the function of each protection device, the DC fuse can be selected, considering international norms. Similarly, the surge protector from the high voltage lighting and DC breakers can be selected. Therefore, the wiring is depicted for training purposes. It is worth noting that this activity is explained both by audio and by text, while the user is interacting freely to learn the way these devices are selected.