Subsidised solar training for South Africans
Solar Career Booster: Opening the door into the solar industry
South Africa’s energy transition is often discussed in terms of technology: panels, batteries, inverters and megawatts installed.
But the transition depends just as much on people.
The Solar Career Booster Programme, subsidised by IBC SOLAR and SOLARWORLD Africa and implemented together with GREEN Solar Academy, exists for one very specific group of people:
Those who have the interest, motivation and potential to work in solar, but who do not yet have the financial means to access professional industry training.
Through the initiative, qualifying participants receive a massive R11,500 subsidy towards SAPVIA-aligned PV GreenCard training, helping them take their first professional step into the photovoltaic industry.
Who qualifies for the Solar Career Booster?
The subsidy is aimed at aspiring PV installers and technical newcomers who:
- already have a technical or electrical background that allows them to progress into professional PV installation work
- would otherwise struggle to access accredited PV GreenCard training
Participants receive significant financial support, but the programme is not a free giveaway.
Applicants must apply, qualify, and invest in the opportunity themselves. Each successful candidate contributes a co-payment toward the training, ensuring that everyone attending has made a personal commitment to their own professional development.
That shared investment from industry partners and from the trainees themselves was clearly visible in the first group of four Solar Career Booster participants who attended the 5-day PV GreenCard training at GREEN Solar Academy Johannesburg at the end of February.
Travelling for opportunity
What stood out to us immediately was how far participants travelled to attend the training!
One person arrived from Vryburg in the North West Province.
Another travelled from Kimberley.
One participant drove all the way from KwaZulu-Natal.
Each covered their own transport and accommodation costs.
The subsidy opened the door, but stepping through it required personal investment, sacrifice and determination.
All four trainees were in no doubt about where the future is heading: “The world is transitioning to new ways of generating power. With this additional skill I want to be part of that transition.”
And one of the attendees, a production supervisor in electronics manufacturing, described joining the course as a deliberate career move: “I’m brand new to solar. I wanted to learn more about it and become part of the industry.”
Their experience reflects exactly what the Solar Career Booster aims to achieve, which is to create entry points for motivated individuals ready to build new careers.
Solar Career Booster recipients at GREEN Solar Academy Johannesburg with master GREEN trainer Dennis du Plooy…
Training as the beginning, not the end
We see PV GreenCard training as a professional foundation, the first milestone on a longer learning journey that leads to installation experience, further specialisation, and ultimately stronger, safer solar projects across the country.
Programmes like the Solar Career Booster help ensure that this journey is not limited only to those who can already afford access.
They widen participation, strengthen the workforce and remind us that the energy transition succeeds when opportunity reaches people who are ready to grow.
…and with their internationally-accredited SuperSolarSchool certificates, which also award 5 CPD points by SAIEE
Do you qualify for the Solar Career Booster?
Applications for Solar Career Booster training opportunities remain open to qualifying candidates. If you are motivated to enter the solar industry and need support accessing PV GreenCard training, hit the button below: