The Deng Solar Training Centre (DSTC) has begun a training course for stakeholders in the energy sector in a bid to promote the use of solar energy in the country.
The 10-day training programme which is sponsored by the GIZ of Germany, is to help develop Ghana’s renewable energy market by promoting German-Ghanaian business partnerships with a technology focus on solar energy and bioenergy.
Participants in the training were drawn from the Energy Commission, VRA, ECG, NEDCO, University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), Takoradi Polytechnic and the KNUST. Also attending are some members of the Association of Ghana Solar Industries (AGSI).
The course is facilitated by the Master of Trainers, Mr Geoff Stapleton, and assisted by DSTC Technical Trainers, Mr Nicholas Opoku Kwarteng and Mr Richard Arthur, who are both astute trainers with some years of experience.
Course facilitator, Mr Geoff Stapleton, said the training would help to expand the solar market in Ghana and other ECOWAS countries by providing technical training on the design, installation and maintenance of Standalone Solar Systems.
He said as part of efforts to expand the use of solar energy, new courses would be introduced periodically by the centre.
With an electrification rate of 72 per cent achieved in 2011, Ghana has the highest electrification rate in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa and is on track to achieve universal access to electricity by 2020, now advanced to 2016.
Hydropower has been the dominant source of power to date, with smaller but increasing contributions from oil (LCO), gas and diesel.
In order to reduce dependence on hydro-electricity and more expensive thermal power as sources of energy, increasing and diversifying the energy supply plays a significant role.
Since its establishment in 2005 more than 900 participants from three countries have attended one or more of our eight different training courses.
