As one of the beneficiaries from the project “Training development for solar PV installers and technicians and capacity building for universities in the fields of renewable energy” within the framework of the EU – Vietnam Energy Facility (EVEF), co-financed by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which is implemented by GIZ, Ninh Thuan Vocational College (NTVC) has been part of a sequence of coordinated activities with the facilitation from the Energy Support Programme (ESP) and the Programme “Reform of TVET in Vietnam” during the past 15 months. Currently, the turning point has been achieved by conducting the virtual training course “Train the Trainer – Installation of Rooftop PV Systems in Vietnam” for the group of 17 teaching staff and in-company trainers of NTVC.
The virtual training workshop, delivered by experts from the Renewables Academy AG (RENAC) and consultant company (Syntegra Solar) from 25 October to 05 November has been recognized as a major success in capacity building for teachers in renewable energy.
Throughout 10 online sessions, participants were immersed in the knowledge of a variety of PV system components, various aspects of the installation, pedagogical skills including the preparation of equipment and training materials, organizing and implementing lessons. The first two sessions were focusing on methodology and didactics. With the guidance of the trainers and obtained knowledge, trainees were divided into 8 pairs of groups to do assignments, present their own micro teaching sessions and receive feedback from the trainers. Through this task, the participants learned how to design and organize a proper theoretical/practical lesson on the topic of Installation of Rooftop PV Systems. In addition, they were also introduced the settings of training centers for practical training in different countries in terms of technical requirements to carry out this course.
The rest of the training days includes technical photovoltaic topics in the Vietnamese context including grid-tied PV system components, AC/DC cabling and wiring, design and sizing of PV systems on flat roofs, and inspection, testing and commissioning. The course came to an end with a certificate awarding ceremony.
Prior to the “Train the Trainer” course, the participants had completed two web-based courses namely “PV Applications” (20 hours) and “Small-scale grid-connected PV systems” (40 hours) on Moodle earlier this year, which provided them with the fundamentals of PV systems. The design of these courses is all based on the training needs analysis (TNA) implemented at the beginning of 2020 for the selected teachers.
“The training helps strengthen my teaching capacity and knowledge on PV systems considerably building up my confidence in implementing this training module for students in the college “, Mr. Huynh Tan Phat- Electrics-Electronics Faculty at NTVC stated. In the opening speech, Mr. Sven Ernedal, Project Director of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (4E) Project, GIZ Energy Support Programme expressed, “Today is a day for celebration as we have reached another major milestone in promoting Solar PV in Vietnam by the realization of the training course “Train the Trainer – Installation of Rooftop PV Systems in Vietnam” amid the Covid- 19 pandemic. I would like to thank all involved project members and partners for your tireless dedication and flexibility during the pandemic; especially, with the thorough preparation of Ninh Thuan Vocational College for the commitment to become a professional vocational training institution on Rooftop Solar Systems.”
After this training course, the face-to-face “Train the trainer” refresher training is planned to organize in Spring 2022 at NTVC, which enables teachers to have hand-on experience and increase their teaching capacity. In the meantime, the further training module on Rooftop Solar System is being formalized as a primary training course which meets Vietnamese TVET requirements and will be piloted by NTVC early next year.
