Solar PV
(I) T1/T2/T3
Kenya’s Solar PV regulations provide for 3 levels of licensing for Solar PV technicians:
- Class T1 license – solar PV system installation work for small systems or single battery DC system of up to 100Wp.
- Class T2 license – solar PV system installation work for medium systems or multiple batteries which may include an inverter up to 300Wp.
- Class T3 license – solar PV system installation work for advanced systems, including grid connected and hybrid systems
(I) T1/T2/T3
Kenya’s Solar PV regulations provide for 3 levels of licensing for Solar PV technicians:
- Class T1 license – solar PV system installation work for small systems or single battery DC system of up to 100Wp.
- Class T2 license – solar PV system installation work for medium systems or multiple batteries which may include an inverter up to 300Wp.
- Class T3 license – solar PV system installation work for advanced systems, including grid connected and hybrid systems
WISEe collaborates with accredited training institutions to deliver technical training to eligible candidates, to increase local female technical capacity to design, install and maintain solar PV energy systems. These trainings aim to create a pool of qualified female technicians providing quality and professional solar PV products and services. Classroom training is reinforced by hands-on training sessions, mentoring and site visits in order to ensure that trainees receive good all-round knowledge and experience.
So far, WISEe has carried out 6 T1/T2 and one T3 Trainings’ in collaboration with partners like Strathmore Energy Research Centre benefiting 99 students in total.
Once trained, trainees are able to gain field experience during site installations under the watchful eyes of experienced WISEe installers. This prepares trainees for the written and oral exams that make them eligible for the solar technician license issued by Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority EPRA
Below are some remarks from some WISEe trainees:
The trainers have excellent know-how. I particularly like that they share their real site experiences’- Ndanu Mwatu
‘I feel that I have understood T3 and what is expected of me as I plan on undertaking the licensing exams’! – Sarah Kwach
‘The training has met my personal expectations. I have learnt many new techniques that I will use when working on my future installations – Daphin
(ii) U1/U2/U3/U4
In collaboration with its partner Remote Energy, WISEe carries out women only and co-ed training in solar PV online via the Moodle platform (https://www.remoteenergy.org/online-training and Zoom sessions for trainees in Africa, Native America and Southern India. The training is a 4 week self paced course with weekly Zoom sessions. After the online lines, the women are taken through a 2-day hands-on workshop, which gives them hands-on skills.
(iii) TU1/TU2 ASPIRE
This is a Training of Trainers (ToT) course offered in partnership with Remote Energy to women in clean energy organisations. The training is meant to equip the women with the skills required for them to start offering the Solar PV trainings’ to women, youths and other participants in their countries.
(iv) Empowered Entrepreneurship Training Program (EETP)
The Empowered Entrepreneur is a holistic course aimed at developing core entrepreneurial competencies necessary for success in business and everyday living. The curriculum focuses on three areas: business, agency empowerment and leadership. The more than twenty (20) sub-units equip the entrepreneur in basic business and financial skills and develop their leadership
Abilities. WISEe offers the training both Physically and online via Moodle as a self paced course with weekly Zoom sessions. Over 70 people have been trained on this so far.
(v) STEM Training
WISEe does STEM Training to high school and university students independently or in collaboration with its partner, We Share Solar (WSS). Students are engaged in a one day workshop where they get to assemble the We Share Solar suitcase from scratch, going through all the stages of a solar system installation and interacting with all the solar components, including the solar panel, charge controller, Battery and loads. At the end of the training, the students are able to assemble, test and commission the system. This helps them change their perspective and start embracing STEM careers.
(v) Solar Powered Irrigation Systems (SPIS) Toolbox
Due to a drop in solar panel prices, solar pumps for irrigation have increasingly become an economical, technical and environmentally viable option. However, one major drawback in the uptake of the technology is still a lack of information on solar pumps for irrigation. Farmers struggle to get sound information in order to make informed decisions on investing and maintaining SPIS.
The Solar Power Irrigation System Toolbox (SPIS TB) has been jointly developed by GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It provides a holistic set of practical materials through which advisors can guide their clients towards a financially and environmentally sound choice.
After undertaking a SPIS TB Trainers course in November 2018, certified WISEe Trainers, together with GIZ and FAO, successfully trained over 120 experts and practitioners at national and international workshops in Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Malawi. Trainees came from 14 countries including Nigeria, Togo, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Mali, Zambia, Cameroun, Burkina Faso, Benin and Germany, and 40% were female.
The 2-5 day trainings’ covered various aspects of SPIS including agronomy, water management, design, operation, maintenance, irrigation management, markets and finance. Learning was enhanced through hands-on exercises, group work, site visits and show-casing of products. Trainees exchanged ideas on how to create enabling policy environments for the sustainable use of SPIS in their respective countries
Additionally, WISEe trainers carried out 9 SPIS Toolbox Training of Trainers (ToTs) to 141 staff members of the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) in Kisumu, Allupe, Lichota and Homabay.
The project provided participants with an overview of the SPIS Toolbox as well as in depth knowledge and comprehension on the 9 modules with a focus on 5 main tools: Farm Analysis Tool, Water Requirement Tool, Pump sizing Tool, Soil Tool and the Payback tool. These tools fall under the Safeguard Water, Invest, Design and Irrigate Modules of the SPIS Toolbox. On completion, trained LBDA staff should be able to train industry players in their community and areas of impact on the SPIS Toolbox and apply it in their Solar Irrigation Projects.
Also, over 45 women in the renewable energy sector from all the counties in Kenya have been trained on the Solar Powered Irrigation Systems Toolbox under the Transforming women in Energy project implemented by WISEe in collaboration with giz-EnDev in 2024.
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