Since 1996, the non-profit Institute for Sustainable Power, Inc. (ISP), has been working with the PV industry, the finance community, standards and certification professional, and the education and training community to develop and implement on international PV training accreditation and practitioner certification framework.
Funding organizations and government agencies are very interested in market development of sustainable technologies, but often the infrastructure needed to successfully market, install, and service the technical solutions that they wish to support is inadequate. Training is one component needed for successful market development, and the ISP and its partners are working to define the tasks, knowledge, and skills needed for the successful implementation of dispersed sustainable energy technology. The outcome of this work is a series of certificates for PV professionals (e.g. installation and maintenance practitioners) based on minimum knowledge and skills competency standards, which will provide customers, financial professionals, and employers with an objective indication of professional competency.
ISP is one of four organizations working with the World Bank to develop a series of implementation manuals to address infrastructure needs: Installation and Maintenance Practitioner Certificatin (ISP), Quality Manufacturing (PV GAP), Testing Laboratories Quality Systems (Florida Solar Energy Centre), and Quality Component Design (ECN). The ISP has developed a manual for implementation of a training accreditation and practitioner certification programme at the country level. The project is being piloted in India, Sri Lanka, and China, and supported in South Africa.
The initial pilot of these four infrastructure components was held in Jaipur, India, in October 1999. ISP organized a five-day workshop based on the World Bank implementation manual for four levels of practitioner certification (Solar Home System Maintenance, Solar Home System Installer, Large Stand-Alone System Maintenance, and Large Stand-Alone System Installer). This served to introduce Indian officials and industry to the proposed quality standards framework, and to test the material and presentation in an appropriate setting. IEA PVPS Task 3, Stand-alone and Island Systems, also attended to observe proceedings.
Based on the review and comments of the attendees, the manual was modified for use in the follow-on implementation workshops in Sri Lanka and South Africa in February 2000, and in China in March 2000. The goals in South Africa were to test the revized materials and to assess the potential for countries to use them without requiring a specifically trained instructor. In the course of the workshop, the participants moved quickly through the material, indicating that they felt that the manual provided sufficient guidance and detail to implement such a program on a national or regional level. In fact, the participants decided to move beyond the framework of the manual and work together to establish a pan-Africa-working group to co-ordinate the development of framework standards for training quality and competence.
In Sri Lanka, the participants took part in both classroom education and hands-on skills training, as the first phase of becoming certified as PV trainers for solar home systems installation. At the end of one week, the participants were evaluated through a knowledge examination and a hands-on skills evaluation. Of the 21 participants, 17 received passing marks and will participate in the second phase of the trainer certification program. In evaluating the four who were unsuccessful, it was determined that having the material presented primarily in English, even with a Sinalese translator available, was insufficient, especially for teaching technology-based subjects. This only emphasizes the need for national-level programs to quality trainers, to avoid having to contact with outside trainers.
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