The SOLTRAIN project aims to tackle water heating energy needs and create opportunities through addressing the solar water heating sector across six partner countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), namely, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, through training, awareness raising, performance monitoring and demonstration systems.
South Africa | Published Mon 07 May 2018 | view
South Africa | Published Wed 31 Jan 2018 | view
Namibia | Published Mon 29 Jan 2018 | view
Lesotho | Published Mon 29 Jan 2018 | view
Zimbabwe | Published Mon 29 Jan 2018 | view
Namibia | Published Mon 29 Jan 2018 | view
Lesotho | Published Mon 29 Jan 2018 | view
South Africa | Published Sat 20 Jan 2018 | view
Botswana | Published Sat 20 Jan 2018 | view
Mozambique | Published Sat 20 Jan 2018 | view
Zimbabwe | Published Sat 20 Jan 2018 | view
This month’s submission to the Soltrain Newsletter from BBCDC, pays tribute to the work of Dr. Anton Schwarzlmueller in Zimbabwe. One of the great achievements of the SOLTRAIN program is the sharing of ideas and cross fertilization of experience. At one of the first presentations of SOLTRAIN II in Lesotho, Werner Weiss introduced some of the low cost institutional systems that were built by Tony and his team in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe | Published Fri 03 Nov 2017 | view
The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), through the Namibia Energy Institute (NEI), organised the Final Stakeholder Workshop on the Implementation Plan of the Namibia Solar Thermal Technology Roadmap (Nam-STTR) under the Southern African Solar Thermal Training and Demonstration Initiative (SOLTRAIN Project) in collaboration with the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME). The workshop took place in late June at the NUST hotel school.
Namibia | Published Fri 03 Nov 2017 | view
The National University of Science and Technology SOLTRAIN team continued with their schools outreach programme aimed at creating awareness about solar thermal technology and applications. This time the destination was Mahlothova Secondary School, located in Umguza District 45 km from Bulawayo on the Victoria Falls Highway. This was the team’s first visit to a school outside Bulawayo thanks to Gawain Badcock who volunteered to tow the Mobile Solar Training Unit, accompanied by Sam Stroupe, a student from Texas Tech University.
Zimbabwe | Published Fri 03 Nov 2017 | view
The Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC), in partnership with the Department of Energy (DoE) under the Ministry of Minerals Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security (MMGE), embarked on a public awareness campaign at the Gaborone International Consumer Trade Fair in late August.
Botswana | Published Fri 03 Nov 2017 | view
Colleagues from the Windhoek Vocational Training Centre attended the Final Stakeholder Workshop on the Implementation Plan of the Namibian Solar Thermal Technology Roadmap to present the first locally manufactured solar collector. Many of these individuals attended the Train the Trainer courses for professionals carried out previously under SOLTRAIN II. The aim of these courses was to increase the knowledge of professionals on solar thermal systems and to be able to design, build and install such systems.
Namibia | Published Fri 03 Nov 2017 | view
The Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC), ran a successful first dissemination training course in early August. Participants included twenty Ministry of Basic Education technicians resulting in representation from at least two officials for every district in the country.
Botswana | Published Fri 20 Oct 2017 | view
The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) and SOLTRAIN hosted another round of solar water heating system installer training in Bulawayo in early July. Aimed at improving the quality of installations in Zimbabwe, this was the second round of training, with the first having been conducted in Harare at roughly the same time the previous year.The training was conducted by Rudi Moschik from AEE INTEC alongside Eng. Samson Mhlanga from NUST.
Zimbabwe | Published Thu 19 Oct 2017 | view
WWF-SA recently published a technical report exploring the barriers and potential for the uptake of solar thermal energy in South Africa in the agri-processing and textile industries. Staff at the Centre for Renewable And Sustainainable Energy Studies at Stellenbosch University, one of the South African SOLTRAIN partners, co-authored the report.
South Africa | Published Thu 19 Oct 2017 | view
The Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies at Stellenbosch University (CRSES) attended the South African Metal Finishing Association (SAMFA) annual general meetings in June. CRSES was represented by Angelo Buckley and the opportunity was used to present and discuss the potential for large-scale applications of solar thermal technologies in the metal finishing industry and to introduce the SOLTRAIN initiative, aimed at driving and funding large-scale solar thermal demonstration systems in South Africa. One of the meetings was also attended by Peter Klein from the CSIR, who presented on the Solar Payback Project and provided insight into the benefits it offers.
South Africa | Published Thu 19 Oct 2017 | view
This month’s submission to the Soltrain Newsletter from BBCDC, pays tribute to the work of Dr. Anton Schwarzlmueller in Zimbabwe. One of the great achievements of the SOLTRAIN program is the sharing of ideas and cross fertilization of experience. At one of the first presentations of SOLTRAIN II in Lesotho, Werner Weiss introduced some of the low cost institutional systems that were built by Tony and his team in Zimbabwe.
Lesotho | Published Thu 19 Oct 2017 | view
Zimbabwe | Published Thu 19 Oct 2017 | view
The Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC), in partnership with the Department of Energy (DoE) under the Ministry of Minerals Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security (MMGE), embarked on a public awareness campaign at the Gaborone International Consumer Trade Fair in late August.
Botswana | Published Thu 19 Oct 2017 | view
Werner Weiss handed over a SOLTRAIN student bursary to Anna Amupolo of Namibia University of Science and Technology on the 30th of June, 2017.
Namibia | Published Fri 21 Jul 2017 | view
To support the aims of the SOLTRAIN project in the partner countries Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, and to motivate students at universities to do their masters thesis in the field of solar thermal, four students have been awarded bursaries to facilitate their research. The bursary supports travel costs to visit another institution in Southern Africa for further study or experimental work, equipment to conduct experiments to support the research and running cost of experimental work or further studies.
Global | Published Mon 10 Jul 2017 | view
Malealea Lodge is a 55 room lodge with bar,dining room, recreational hall and thrivingtourism business. It is located about 75km from Maseru in the Mafeteng District and hosts approximately 5 000 visitors per year. There are 28 permanent staff, 12 temporary, 15 pony trekking guides, 30 horse owners, and 15 hiking guides working as commercial community partners. The contribution of the Lodge to the local community is immense.
Lesotho | Published Mon 10 Jul 2017 | view
SOLTRAIN has financed monitoring equipment that is now installed at four of the 62 houses equipped with solar water heating systems (SWH), and at two houses meeting their hot water requirements through electric geysers. The low cost houses low cost were constructed by the National Housing Enterprises (NHE), in Otjomuise, Windhoek. Additional monitoring equipment has also been installed at a residential house in Dorado Park and at Joe’s Beer house.
Namibia | Published Mon 10 Jul 2017 | view
SOLTRAIN Lesotho has provided updates on recent activities, including the 3rd SOLTRAIN Lesotho Roadmap Meeting, Quality Inspector training and further developments regarding its parabolic solar bread baking technology.
Lesotho | Published Mon 08 May 2017 | view
Botswana | Published Wed 26 Apr 2017 | view
South Africa | Published Wed 26 Apr 2017 | view
South Africa | Published Wed 26 Apr 2017 | view
The Permanent Secretary in the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy, Mr. Simeon Negumbo, has expressed his appreciation and gratitude for initiatives such as the Solar Thermal Training and Demonstration Initiative (SOLTRAIN), which is viewed as one of the best strategies for the implementation of the Cabinet Directive of 2007 on solar water heaters, and is looking forward to the Roadmap Implementation Plan which is in line with national programmes. He said this while addressing the solar thermal technologies stakeholders in Windhoek, on 20 October, 2016.
Namibia | Published Tue 13 Dec 2016 | view
Lesotho’s first Solar Thermal Technology Roadmap meeting was held during the second week of October at the Avani Lesotho Hotel in Maseru. Although only 26 of expected 40 participants attended, the gathering consisted of a diverse set of stakeholders in the renewable energy and allied fields, including solar companies, the Department of Energy, Lesotho Electricity and Water Authority (LEWA), research and academic institutions, sponsors and others.
Lesotho | Published Tue 13 Dec 2016 | view
The third workshop in a series aimed at furthering the implementation of the South African Solar Thermal Technology Roadmap (SA-STTRM) was held in Cape Town at the end of October. This builds on outcomes of the second implementation workshop earlier in the year where a lack of focus on technology awareness, understanding and marketing solar thermal technologies were identified as shortcomings in the sector.
South Africa | Published Tue 13 Dec 2016 | view
A specialised course for a restricted number of experts was held in Stellenbosch in early November, giving insight into state-of-the-art design, simulation, planning and installation of advanced high quality solar thermal (ST) systems for industrial applications in Southern Africa.
South Africa | Published Tue 13 Dec 2016 | view
Forty delegates from the SOLTRAIN course on Solar Heat for Industrial Applications were treated to a tour of the solar thermal process heating system at Cape Brewing Company, Paarl in early November.
South Africa | Published Tue 13 Dec 2016 | view
WWF-SA together with GreenCape and the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies (CRSES) at Stellenbosch University hosted a very successful workshop aimed at gaining a better understanding of the potential of solar energy in the agri-processing industry. The workshop was held at the STAIS Wallenberg Centre in Stellenbosch in mid-November.
South Africa | Published Tue 13 Dec 2016 | view
The “Solar Technologies & Hybrid Mini Grids to Improve Energy Access” conference recently took place in Bad Hersfeld, Germany in the latter part of September.
Global | Published Thu 20 Oct 2016 | view
SOLTRAIN’s Lesotho partner, Bethel Business and Community Development Centre (BBCDC), has embarked on a number of initiatives aimed at elevating the awareness of SOLTRAIN 3 and solar thermal in general.
Lesotho | Published Thu 20 Oct 2016 | view
One of SOLTRAIN’s South African partners, SANEDI, recently hosted their second workshop as part of SOLTRAIN phase III in Pretoria in mid-September.
South Africa | Published Wed 19 Oct 2016 | view