Progress report for the first session of the Training in Solar Entrepreneurship at Energy Generation

Learners in the middle of a practical work session

In Togo, the government has launched its new electrification strategy, providing for the creation of thousands of jobs in the photovoltaic solar sector. Unfortunately, the companies concerned are forced to have recourse to outside operators because the country faces a lack of adequate training that would allow local players to invest in the field.

​Indeed, today there are not enough training offers for technicians in installation and maintenance. Faced with this growing need, Energy Generation has developed the “Training of installers and technicians for the maintenance of solar photovoltaic systems” program to broaden its impact in creating economic opportunities and jobs for young people in Africa through the promotion of renewable energies.

At the end of this training, the learners will have acquired the skills necessary to carry out an installation of an autonomous photovoltaic solar system, functional and adapted to the challenges and needs of end users.

In addition, they will be equipped to create, manage and develop an economic activity built around the installation and maintenance of solar systems.

Wiring session, simulation phase

A total of 15 learners are registered for this first session, including 7 women.

Energy Generation is committed to promoting gender equality and wants to play an active role in the empowerment of women. The program thus benefits from financial support from the world leader in energy, Electricité de France (EDF) in the form of grants awarded to young women wishing to train in this promising sector.

This session, which started on March 25, 2019, has just passed a first symbolic stage, that of the installation phase, thanks in particular to the technical and educational support from the Schneider Electric Foundation.

The progress report is very positive and makes, Soulemane Hayibo, a technical trainer very optimistic about the results at the end of the training:

« After this first phase of the technical journey, I am very proud of the evolution of the learners and impressed by their motivation which has continued to grow day by day. It's really nice as a trainer to have such attentive learners who make you feel like you are doing something really important »

Session on the characteristics of a solar regulator

This training is subdivided into course sessions, tutorials, practical work and evaluation. The evaluation sessions allow both the trainer and the learners to assess their rate of assimilation of the courses and their level of performance in relation to the objectives set for the training.

«I learned that there was training in installing photovoltaic solar systems and I signed up because I liked the idea very much. The strengths of this training are in my opinion: the organization of trainers, possibilities of support by Energy Generation and the methods of explaining the courses, Tutorials and Practical Works by the trainer.»

Says Jacques Komi-Gakla, one of our learners with a CAP in electricity equipment.

Energy Generation has a specific and evolving pedagogy, the learners have week after week, studied the fundamental aspects of the solar photovoltaic installation, and then studied the courses before arriving at the practical case of the simulation of a real installation.

Luce Ndzengue, one of the learners from Gabon, testifies : « The training is going very well, for my part, and I have learned a lot. The knowledge acquired allowed me, as a member of a startup carrying out solar panel installations, to correct certain errors, and to learn even more. The trainer, Mr. Soulemane, is very patient and listens to the learners. There is a serene atmosphere within the whole team. I am very happy to take part in this training »

This program is enriched by a series of conferences, which give learners the opportunity to be in contact with experts in their field and to create a network. This session, we were fortunate to have experts from the Urbis Foundation. The latter intervened on the very interesting concept of Net Metering.

This practical step ended with the delivery of certificates to the learners in a great atmosphere of joy and pride.

Group photo after the presentation of certificates

The learners have entered the second training phase: the entrepreneurship module which will be the subject of a future post on our blog!