The Energy Center (TEC) and its partners (JICA, the World Bank and the Ministry of Energy Ghana) have organized a weekend Solar Energy Clinic for Science and Engineering students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). 

The clinic which was organized on 8th and 22nd October 2011, was to introduce the students to the exciting area of solar energy technologies and offer them some hands-on experience with solar photovoltaic technologies. 

A total of 67 students benefited from the clinic, including 8 female participants. 

Present at the training were officials from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Ministry of Energy (MoEn) and representatives from Koforidua and Tamale Polytechnics. 

The coordinator of the World Bank Solar Capacity Upgrading Project (SolarCUP) at The Energy Center, Mr David Ato Quansah; and the head of the Solar Energy Applications Laboratory (SEAL), Mr Isaac Edwin Adjei, served as resource persons for the clinic. The students were given an overview of solar energy technologies, including: Concentrating Solar Power, Solar Water Heating, Solar Crop Drying, Solar Water Distillation and Solar Photovoltaic Applications. 

Addressing participants during the opening session, Mr Quansah, who spoke on behalf of Prof Abeeku Brew-Hammond; Director of TEC, indicated that the session had been organized to exposed students to the various solar energy technologies in the hope of stimulating interest among participants to develop careers and businesses in these areas.  

The participants expressed their gratitude to the organizers, and were hopeful that the event will be institutionalized to enable more people to benefit from it. A number of the participants expressed interest in enrolling on TEC short courses in renewable energy technologies in 2012. 

In view of the high level of interest and the over-subscription that was recorded in both sessions The Energy Center has decided to hold more sessions next semester, will be communicated in due course.     

The World Bank supported the clinic through the Solar Capacity Upgrading Project (SolarCUP) being implemented by The Energy Center. 

To download training presentations, click here.