A User-Centered System Usability Evaluation of a Virtual Reality Application Developed for Solar Farm Training

The hazardous potential of the Photovoltaic (PV) industry demands the most rigorous and professional training. However, such training requires many resources and time and has potential health and safety risks. Incorporating emerging technologies in such training can be helpful. This paper proposes SolarPro, a virtual reality application for solar farm training that can aid solar farm trainees in getting initial training in the virtual environment. The application's usability is tested through multiple testing sessions with 30 participants. The testing participants experienced the virtual scenarios, completed the tasks and filled out the system usability questionnaires. The system usability scale analysis resulted in a grade A score of 81.75. The analysis based on the demographic characteristics also showed positive results. We can conclude that the SolarPro virtual reality application has high system usability. However, it is suggested to have more than just 30 respondents for the usability test to conclude more promising results.