The next round of SOLTRAIN's training activities kicked off recently in Mozambique at Young Africa (YA), an organization located in Beira, about 1 000 km from the capital, Maputo. YA is a vocational skills training organization, with boarding facilities, where youth are trained in commercial and technical trades including carpentry, plumbing, electrical work and welding.
The obvious overlap between YA's plumbing and electrical training curriculum and SOLTRAIN's solar thermal focus allowed for a highly synergistic relationship in providing training on a 'train-the-trainer' basis. Most of the participants were teachers at different professional schools for youngsters in surrounding areas.
The course took five days of which two were devoted to theory and three to practical training. A 1 200 litre demonstration system consisting of five thermosiphon units was built on-site together with the participants in order to supply a women's residence for 50 students with hot water.
Three thermosiphon units, with a total volume of 600 litres and evacuated tube collectors were delivered by a Mozambican Company, Sun Power. Two units with flat plate collectors and a total tank volume of 600 litres were delivered from a South African Company, SEG Solar Energy. Both companies are SOLTRAIN partners.
It is worth mentioning, that the training was the first of its kind in the Central Region of Mozambique in order to provide essential support in the development of solar thermal technology in this particular region.
The course was presented by a technician of AEE INTEC and was kept interactive. It was translated into Portuguese to accommodate the majority non-English speakers.
The theoretical part consisted of the essentials of solar radiation, the efficiency of solar collectors, materials used for installation of solar thermal systems and the hydraulics of the systems among other topics.
The training culminated in an evaluation of how much understanding the participants had gained of all the topics covered, and certificates were awarded to the successful participants.
The training was regarded as a great success and YA and SOLTRAIN look forward to offering additional events and training sessions to increase awareness for this important and sustainable technology in Mozambique.
