Importance of individual capacity building for successful solar program implementation: A case study in the Philippines

Solar energy is often chosen as the enabling technology for many off grid, rural electrification projects. In many situations photovoltaic systems (PV) prove to be a highly effective means of meeting essential needs such as lighting for homes, schools and community centres, as well as remote telecommunication, fresh drinking water and vaccine refrigeration. Throughout the Pacific-island region, countries such as the Philippines have experimented with small scale rural energy projects for over three decades. There are lack of adequate ‘individual’ technical training and appropriate social preparation activities has often resulted in project failures due to poor maintenance, abuse, poor installation, and lack of understanding by the system owner, operator or local technician. This research was aimed at investigating the importance of individual training in capacity building programs for solar home system (SHS) technology transfer projects. The focus is on the analysis of the effectiveness of the individual training component in various projects in the Philippines. A survey has been undertaken which included a series of SHS site visits and individual surveys with system owners and operators, and Focus Group Discussions with other project stakeholders. Survey results show that adequate user and local technician training is an important factor in successfully implementing rural electrification through PV power systems. However, for training to be successful there must be a consensus of what the target performance behaviors should be and how they should be measured. The most basic requirements for successful training are that the training reaches to the right people at the right time and delivers the right content.