SDF supports Ghana Electrical Contractors Association
The solar system market in Ghana is in a rapid growth cycle in view of the current downward spiral of our energy capabilities.
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From an affordability perspective, prices of solar systems appeal mostly to middle income households who can afford the reliability of a solar system to power their household appliances as an alternative to the current inadequate supply of hydro power.
The solar system market is highly product driven considering the lack of related technical skills on the market. The capital requirement to procure the hardware in the growing market makes the barrier to entry quite high.
As a result of these, the market for solar system products and services is dominated by expatriates who have the capital and technical expertise to deliver full solar energy solutions.
However, estimates indicate that the current market dynamics are expected to change over the next couple of years as demand for solar systems soar to supplement the energy crisis and as government drives initiatives to increase to the 10 per cent uptake of renewable energy sources by the year 2020 that will augment the energy mix to the national grid.
Such projected growth indicators make room for opportunity to sectors that can take advantage of this market demand.
The Ghana Electrical Contractors Association (GECA) is one of such associations poised to benefit from the emerging opportunity as the energy mix shifts in the coming years. The association has a competitive edge in the labour-based services such as installation, repairs and maintenance, given their electrical expertise, nationwide coverage and close customer touch points.
However, the weakness of the association to fully exploit this competitive edge lies in the lack of technical expertise specifically in solar systems. Members saw the need to be trained and certified in solar systems which will make them well-rounded and marketable in both hydro and solar sources of energy.
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As solar technology evolves, continued training and certification of local electrical contractors is paramount to ensuring the national vision of increasing solar energy.
As a national association, they collectively applied to SDF for a grant to enable them to acquire competency-based skills training in the installation and maintenance of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems through collaborations with the Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) and Tradeworks Limited, an industry expert company in solar installations and maintenance.
All 10 regional groups of the association received SDF funding to be a part of the national training which is to be carried out in phases by GTUC and Tradeworks.
So far members of the Greater Accra, Western, Central, Volta and Eastern regional wings of the association have been trained in the installation and maintenance of solar PV systems installations and maintenance.
In making a case for such a proposal, the national president of GECA, Mr J.B. Walker, pointed out the ripple benefits the association, as well as industry as a whole, stands to gain from such an intervention.
“There is no denying the overall advantage of funding such an association with a national network, because the nation will be the ultimate winner,” he expressed.
According to GTUC’s Dr Agyenim Boateng, the lead developer of the curricula for the training, ”the market opportunity for solar systems will expand with decreasing product pricing as solar systems become commoditized in the market, which will ultimately reduce the barrier to entry for suppliers and service providers.”
Benefits being derived from the training so far conducted indicate that the average time spent in installing a standard 3.5 KWp solar system has been reduced from 14 to seven hours by a two-man team of technicians instead of the five technicians that undertake the same task.
At the end of the entire programme it is estimated that the number of trained and certified GECA solar PV technicians will rise from zero to one thousand, who will also champion the growth and synergy of private industry and the knowledge industry which together form a basis for sustainable economic development and growth.