Africa‘s Premier Training Institute for Solar Power
SuperSolarSchool – 5 Days
Master the sun in one week: Comprehensive 5-day course on grid-tied PV systems with battery back-up. Start with the basics and climb to professional level in only one week. Interactive exercises and involvement of the participants make the course content easy to understand and interesting to follow.
Solar 101 – 3 Days
Solar 101 will provide you with the fundamentals that you need to understand when starting out in the PV industry. You will be able to understand technical terms, sell PV systems, and grasp the business side of PV, without having to go into deep technical detail. No calculations, no preknowledge needed!
eLearning – Own Pace
Our online courses have been developed with input from international product manufacturers as well as African solar experts to create content relevant to our climate and conditions, and feature an engaging mix of lectures, videos, podcasts, interactive exercises and self-assessments.
Christian August
I am a qualified electrician holding a Trade Certificate in Electrical General, currently working as a renewable sales consultant. I already had 2 years’ experience in the physical installation of solar. Now, I've learned how to size the systems myself, and more about the types of systems on offer, protection devices, and the monitoring options available. I would like to advise young people, electricians and solar technicians to take part in this training to learn about solar in depth.
Ambrosio Lusuekikio
Prior to attending SuperSolarSchool, I had a little knowledge of solar through reading. I co-ordinate and consult on community projects, so I needed to be 100% sure I was dispensing the correct, safe, effective solar advice. I would recommend this training to technicians, solar installers and electricians so that they can get more knowledge and skills on how to maintain solar.
Weber Stenberg
I am currently a Project Manager with a background of working as a refrigerator technician and electrician. This course taught me how to do system design, what to consider when doing maintenance, and how to engage potential clients. Next, I will be going for my PV GreenCard. I will be recommending this same training for my team who are busy assisting me with the installations.
Theophelus Halukolo
My electrical background allowed me to set up my own company. I came to the training to also learn how to do battery and inverter sizing, which I did. I also learned the importance of site visits and doing a full load profile analysis. I would highly recommend this training!
Elario Muller
I have a background in advertising and marketing, and my current job is Business Development Manager at Pupkewitz. Thanks to this training, I will be able to generate more proposals, as I have a far better understating of how to calculate system size. I will obviously recommend this training to other technicians or solar installers.
Berthold Malyata
I am a Technical Advisor with a background in farming (agriculture has actually been my hobby since I was young). I had no pre-knowledge of solar before this training, and I have learned a lot about how solar PV works. I’m going to continue to get more knowledge and skills in solar. I would recommend this training to anyone who would be interested.
Ivan Louw
I am salesman and HR practitioner with a basic knowledge of electricity. I had no pre-knowledge of solar. Now that my training is done, my goal is to become a certified solar technician and start my own installation company.
Godfryd Kakumo
I am a Renewable Energy Consultant with 6 years’ experience in solar system installation. This training taught me how to do design in depth and how to balance the system with calculations and the usage of designing software. I would recommend this training to solar installers and consultants.
CURRENT AND PAST CLIENTS
Young Africa Namibia is an NGO that trains youth as part of an employment programme. Part of their training is a technical education, e.g. in IT, green building, welding or solar installations, as well as life and business skills to promote entrepreneurship.
Since 2017, Young Africa runs our Academy in Namibia and offers training at two different locations: Okahandja and Otjiwarongo. Since 2019, Olivia Namkomba is the director of the Namibian GREEN Solar Academy.
Market potential for Solar PV in Namibia
Solar power as a source of renewable energy is a relatively new phenomenon that has become quite popular in many countries in the global north. Germany for example has some of the most successful implementations of PV solar power in the world. Yet, they get almost half the sun that we do here in Southern Africa. Namibia itself is considered to have some of the best conditions for solar generation worldwide. The country only needs to seize on this opportunity and invest in the PV industry and it will outstrip its European counterparts in the realm of solar power generation.
Currently, Namibia has four main sources of energy production; petroleum, hydropower, imported electricity and imported coal. The country itself can currently only supply a third of the required energy to give power to its citizens. 240 MW comes from the hydroelectric power plant on Kunene river, 120 MW from the van Eck coal-powered plant north of Windhoek, 24 MW from the fuel-oil powered plant in Walvis Bay and 5.78 MW solar plant in Trekkopje.
Despite this there are still about 1 million Namibian citizens that have no access to electricity, about 47% of the country. Namibia has the potential to use solar power to bridge this gap as they already use solar PV-based pumping to provide power to cattle farms. This is the first step to using solar power for rural areas, radio stations, lighting, and other power dependent amenities.
Namibia’s crisis of energy and how PV can help
Namibia’s average energy consumption rate is over 3000 GWh/year while it only has the ability to generate around 1305 GWh/year. This results in a dependence on imported power from countries like South Africa, Zambia, and Mozambique (approximately 78% of electricity was imported in 2018). This has created crisis of energy dependence that has negatively affect the country over the last few decades.
The hydroelectric power plant in Raucana, Namibia’s largest producer of power, is also not as reliable as the country requires it to be. This is due to its heavy reliance on the waterflow from the Kunene River, which has no dam to help regulate the waterflow and only a reservoir that can manage the water over a 24-hour period. This means that the electricity generated by Raucana is heavily dependent on rainfalls in Angola which can change because of long-term climate change, as well as new and additional uses of Kunene River water in Angola.
Solar power is one option to help subside the energy crisis and can be used in tandem with other forms of power, like wind, to become a more reliable supply of power for the country. The trend is already picking up in Namibia as more and more people are using solar to power their homes.
Namibia has a chance to learn from the mistakes of its predecessors. They can begin to build solar PV systems close to the centres dependent on power and create a new supply of electricity that can lift the weight on current systems, lower prices and allow for energy independence from other countries.
Current situation of PV solar in Namibian government and legal system
While Namibia is in an energy crisis at the moment there has been movement in the governing powers around the creation and management of solar energy in the country. Currently there is a Renewable Energy Policy in development that will govern the use of solar power both at a commercial level and in the domestic home.
These policies will govern the use of subjects like net metering (currently up to 500 kW), self-consumption systems (<500 kW) and a modified single buyer model which regulates the sale of energy to third parties. The development of these policies is import as it will allow proper and fair regulation of solar power and the solar PV industry. It is also an important step in the evolution of the market from a centralised space to a more decentralised model allowing more freedom and multiple actor involvement. A good example of this is how solar is managed in the City of Windhoek in which you need a bi-directional meter (usually converted from a prepaid meter), you must be registered with the Electricity Department of the City of Windhoek through a registered electrical contractor, and your system and grid integration must be inspected by the city.
These are just the first steps to developing solar power in the country of Namibia and it only gets more beneficial and exciting from here.
Why skilled workers are needed and what opportunities are there?
Namibia’s current energy situation and its potential to grow solar power as a source of renewable energy in the county is quite dependant on skilled labour to build and maintain those systems. This means that there is great opportunity for those that wish to step into this sector and grow the solar PV industry.
A recent study estimates that 20 manufacturing job-years and 13 installation job-years are created for each Mega-Watt power (MWp) of solar panels installed. This has been proven by the growing solar PV industry in South Africa. The opportunities for the growth of skilled labour are great because the required technology and engineering skills in the country are limited and underdeveloped. The foreign investment in the country’s energy sector is also very limited and the country lacks both incentives and national targets for developing and improving its energy sector. No national investments have been carried out during the past 3-4 decades, neither for developing the energy sector, nor for improving and increasing the country’s electricity generation capacity.
This leaves the growth of the solar sector to you. Therefore, GREEN is excited to get involved in growing the PV solar industry in Namibia. As a result of all the experience we have and our unique approach, you can expect a very high level of quality and professionalism in all our training courses. For us, the most important goal is to support your career in the solar industry and make it as easy as possible to find your personal way.
How the solar industry is growing in the world and in Namibia?
The world market for solar energy is growing rapidly. The total energy consumption of the world per year is about 17 000 TWh. In one year, a total of 2.2 TWh of solar radiation can fall on one square kilometre of land. With 15-20% of this radiation being converted into useful energy we would need only 210×250 km2 of desert region to have a global energy supply. This information means that a rise in solar power dependence is inevitable and with it the growth of the solar industry world-wide.
Despite Namibia’s current energy issues and its dependence on Eskom’s supply from South Africa, there are many opportunities in which the country can build its solar PV industry and have a positive effect on the country and environment.
Using solar power can have huge potential for supplying directly where the consumption takes place. For example, solar power can help safari lodges and farms reduce diesel costs and even replace loud diesel generators. Solar power can also help reduce energy costs in mining and provide industry and businesses that require constant power with power using a UPS system. There are currently examples of how solar PV is assisting Namibia using three types of systems; a 5 kWp system in Swakopmund installed by Atlantic Solar, an off-grid system provides electricity for the research centre in the middle of the desert, and a grid-tied utility scale as power generation plant installed by Hopsol.
All of these developments in the solar PV industry are poised to help Namibia begin to solve its energy crisis by supplementing their power production and hopefully providing power to its prioritised 2879 rural localities and other regions where hospitals, schools and other amenities are located.
Is there a market for solar PV in Namibia, are there PV programmes available, are solutions for every requirement available, does PV have government support and technical and legislative back falls? Yes, to all.
So why wait? Sign-up today and become part of GREEN.
Contact
- Otjiwarongo, Namibia
- +264 (0) 81 318 9085
- namibia@solar-training.org
- 9:00 - 17:00
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