Accreditation of Training Programmes and Institutions and Trainer Certification

The overall quality of PV systems and hence the success or failure of PV programmes depends not only on the quality of the hardware used, but also on the competence and ability of personnel involved in the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of PV systems.  At present, training of PV personnel varies greatly, as does the quality of their workmanship, leading to variable quality of installed systems.

In order to ensure the availability of staff trained to a high level of professional competence, quality standards and an accreditation and certification system are required in the area of practitioner training.  The control of training programmes offered, both under specific programmes and more generally, needs to be ensured through an independent accreditation process.

Under the ALTENER Project European PV Training Accreditation and Certification, a Task Analysis for a PV installer training course was prepared.  A syllabus for a PV installer training course was developed.  This also contains requirements for practical assessment and a test rig specification.

ISPQ has developed a framework for the accreditation of training programmes relating to the design and installation of renewable energy and distributed generation systems as well as energy efficiency measures.  As part of this work, a set of quality standards and a framework for the objective evaluation of training programmes and trainers has been developed.  These serve as a tool for assuring a common competency level between all accredited training programmes.

Accreditation and certification are available to training organisations and trainers worldwide.  The intention of this objective framework for training accreditation and certification is to provide a means to evaluate available training programmes by measuring them against a set of internationally agreed quality standards.  This benefits programme developers, donor and financial organisations, students, and other stakeholders.

For more information on training accreditation and trainer certification please refer to ISPQ's website.

website:  http://www.ispq.org/isptraincert.html

The ISPQ Accreditation Manual and the Draft International Standard ISPQ DIS 01021 General requirements for Trainers and Training Programs offering Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, or Distributed Generation Training can be downloaded.

Two training courses have been accredited within this project:

‘Solarteur’, BZS, Bergsonstrasse 109, 81245 Muenchen, Germany, website: http://www.bzs-solar.musin.de.

‘CNWL’, Dudden Hill Lane, London  NW10 2XD, website http://www.cnwl.ac.uk/

A list of accredited institutions can be found at Accredited Training Facilities. website  http://www.ispq.org/ispinstitutions.html