The University of Nairobi

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Technical Capacity Building in

Solar PV Installation and

Maintenance

Dr Justus Simiyu University of Nairobi

Department of Physics P. O. Box 30197 – 00100

Nairobi, Kenya Email: simiyuj@uonbi.ac.ke

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Key Facts (Kenya)

Fast growing demand for energy

Large geographical imbalance in electricity demand & supply

Electrification rates:

National: 15 – 20%

Rural: 5-10%

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Energy Demand electricity only accounts for 10 percent

of total final energy consumption

60 percent of all electricity is consumed by commercial & industrial sectors

only 24 percent is used by households

Demand is rapidly increasing: electricity consumption in the household sector alone has risen by 35 percent.

Share of electricity use per type of

end-user 2010*

*Source: National Climate Change Response Strategy

(Energy Demand Mitigation)

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PV Sub-sector Status*

High potential for PV

PV sector established in the 80s

Majority are off-grid solar home systems

PV Technology Estimated installed Capacity

SHS 6-8 MWp

Institutional & Water pumping

>1.5 MWp

Telecom** >300 kWp

Tourism** >50 kWp

Grid-Fed** 570 kWp

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Status

PV sub-sector is market driven

Approx. 800-1000 solar PV technicians working in the Kenyan market since then

Majority skilled but untrained;

Provide a necessary service to end-users

Some operate as re-sellers and as sales agents.

Most SHS market comprise over the counter trade system

PV Sub-sector

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Importers

Depots

Vendor

End user

Freelance Techs

Market Structure in Kenya

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ERC Regulations

Objectives:

• Targets manufacturer, importer, vendor, technician, contractor, system owner, solar PV system installation and consumer devices.

• Guarantee the quality of system & their components.

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Body Mandate

1 ERC Licensing Technicians

2 NITA Trade Test on skills Accreditation before licensing Curriculum dev.

3 KIE Curriculum dev.

4 KEBS Standards enforcement

5 Universities Academic programs Short professional courses PV testing & standards labs

6 Polytechnics & tech. inst Training of technicians

7 Others (e.g. KEREA)

Advocacy, Public-private partnership Institutionalization of training Standardization of private based pv training, Check on good practice

Structure of Players

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Class Limits of Licensing

T1 • PV installation for single module single battery

• Up to 100 Wp • DC only

T2 • Medium size • Multiple module/batteries • Up to 300 Wp • Including AC

T3 • Advanced installations • Grid tied pv • Hybrid pv systems

ERC Licensing

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Class Limits of Licensing

C1 • Design & installation PV • Either is must employ a T3

V1 • Design, distribute, sell or install PV • Either be or employ T2

V2 • Manufacture or import PV systems & components

• Either be of employ T2

ERC Licensing

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Existing Curriculum

In Technical institutions

Taught as topics to students taking diploma in electrical engineering

Covers basics to sizing as topics in a unit

Not adequate in developing the technician to face the market challenges

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Run by Condensed Matter Group

Involved in basic research and applications in PV

Trainers comprise of lecturers and technologists

Currently offering T1 & T2 short proffessional training

Initial support from ISP

UoN Solar Academy

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Scope

Basics (Modules, Batteries, Controllers etc)

Installation

Maintenance

PV lanterns

Entrepreneureship

Value Addition

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Advanced training (for T3), e.g Strathmore, Netherlands

Curriculum development & review

Impact

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Over 150 Technitians trained in two years

10 of them female

Participants from Kenya, Uganda & South Sudan

Two scheduled trainings per year

Freelance techs, engineers, vendors, contractors, students, religious leaders, personal interests, institutions (colleges, children’s homes, World Vision)

Majority almni have been licensed by ERC

All almni are on a miling group

Group has partnered with NGOs (eg) S3C on ’smart village initiatives’

Lessons

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There is still need to build capacity across the country

Current limitation in outreach since the training is residential

Need for facilitation on outreach (caravan training)

No technical capacity yet for T3 (Equipment partly acquired)

Shrinking government funding to university

Need to carry out thorough survey on utilization of the skills by the trained techs and impact on society

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Acknowledgement: ISP (Uppsala University), Sweden University of Nairobi Kenya National Academy of Sciences Tanzania Academy of Sciences Smart Villages Initiative

THANK YOU