By EBELE ORAKPO

One of the major complaints by Nigerians about renewable energy, especially solar, apart from the cost, is that it does not work. Experts are all agreed that apart from substandard products, other factors that could make solar inefficient is improper installation, incorrect azimuth and incorrect tilt angles.

This is not unconnected with dearth of skilled manpower in the field. So to ensure availability of skilled workers in Nigeria, African Energy, a wholesale distributor of solar components for Africa, organised a two-day training programme in Lagos last week.

Speaking with Vanguard at the end of the two-day event, Mr. David Krummenacker of African Energy, said the company has been conducting training for solar and renewable energy workers in the past 10 years.

“We have been training people in Nigeria for that length of time. We have a number of manufacturers of high quality products for renewable energy and we bring those to Nigeria and around Africa and distribute them.“

The training saw in attendance about 50 participants some of whom are African Energy business partners.

“We had about 50 participants from all levels of learning – some advanced, some just starting out – so it has been an opportunity for all of them to strengthen their knowledge about renewable energy.

Many of them are our business partners and technicians so they are here to learn more about sizing, battery update systems,  and learn about new developments in the field. It’s been a very good two days.”

Speaking on the progress made so far, Krummenacker said they have come a long way.

“When African Energy first started 10 years ago, there was little understanding about renewable energy, whether it be solar, or inverter back-up or whatever. So our company’s founder, Lincoln Dahl, started training people – the early pioneers – like Solar Mates, Pamtronics etc.

These and other companies rose quite well within the industry. Over the years, we have trained many more companies. Today, we have about 200 companies in Nigeria that we work with,” he said, adding that Nigerians are beginning to embrace renewable energy because they are tired of generators, the noise, the pollution and all the money spent on diesel/petrol. “So you can spend a lot less by buying a renewable energy system.”

Mr. Suleiman Yusuf, the MD of Abuja-based Blue Camel Energy, one of the partners of African Energy, noted that the training was worthwhile as availability of skilled manpower in the field will help build people’s confidence in renewable energy in Nigeria.

Although Krummenacker agreed that the initial cost of acquiring a renewable energy system is high, but argued that it is cheaper in the long run. He advised government at all levels to key in by setting up programmes to implement renewable energy.