Technical Officer: Standard & Research, Skill Council for Green Jobs
Grid connected rooftop solar PV (GRPV) market in India is witnessing substantial interest from entrepreneurs, developers, financial institutions, development banks, end-users, as well as government entities. Indian states are gearing up for rapid deployment by creating enabling environment - developing rooftop solar policies, incentives, metering regulations etc. to achieve an aggressive capacity target of 40 GW of rooftop solar capacity deployments announced by Government of India (GoI) by 2022.
The key objective of the GRPV Technical Assistance (TA) program is to build capacities of different stakeholders for facilitating accelerated deployment and scaling up of Grid connected Rooftop Solar PV (GRPV).
Realizing the need to build capacities of different stakeholders for facilitating an accelerated deployment of GRPV and to create a pool of skilled manpower for the holistic growth of the rooftop solar industry, Skill Council for Gren Jobs (SCGJ) designed and developed training programs for loan appraisal officers/finance professionals, DISCOM officers, Entrepreneurs, EPC contractors & solar developers and trainers. The course contents were developed as per the Qualification Packs (QP) of Skill Council for Green Jobs and declared as National Qualifications, which are part of the National Qualification Register.
The aim of the training program designed for loan appraisal officers was to provide them a thorough understanding, focused on the structure of the Grid connected Rooftop Solar PV (GRPV) sector, business models, financing opportunities, risks and risk mitigation strategies and project costing & evaluation. The training program for DISCOM officers provides an in-depth understanding on streamlining the processes of inspection and integration with the grid across the consumer spectrum. Entrepreneurs training program module is designed to enable entrepreneurs to understand the project management approach, the business models, financing opportunities, risks and risk mitigation strategies and costing and further accelerate the growth of grid connected rooftop solar systems across the consumer spectrum.
Under the SUPRABHA Technical Assistance Program, Skill Council for Green Jobs hosts a Secretariat for capacity building and skill development. SCGJ further established North and North-East Solar Training Network (NNEST-NET) and selected fourteen partner training institutions to train the Bankers, Entrepreneurs, Discom officers and Developers across 17 partner States under the TA Program. SCGJ further developed Standard Operating Procedures for delivery of training programs and National / State-wise Training Calendar for training stakeholders in 17 Partner States.
As of date, a total of 1542 participants have been trained since mid-2018 comprising 744 Utility Engineers, 386 SBI Officials, 295 Entrepreneurs, 68 Developers and 49 Trainers.
Due to the current pandemic, interests have been received from the stakeholders to develop and organize online training programs.
The global energy transition will span decades and require unprecedented collaboration between policy-makers, leaders from business and non-governmental organisations, and consumers. These changes will bring a disruption and will require collective action across the energy systems. It will require new skills, generate new jobs for newer technologies. We have seen government’s LED programme radically pushing down price of the products in the global market and helping create local manufacturing jobs to meet the demand for energy-efficient lighting. Similar outputs can be expected in the renewables sector.
A multitude of skilled workers across every phase of a solar project will be needed. As rooftop solar adoption increases, more and more skilled workers will be required in the market. To prepare the market for a conducive scaling up of renewable energy capacity skills and training will need to be brought at the centre. The sector will need newer ways of skilling like developing training clusters near ongoing renewable energy projects; amalgamation of digital as well as physical mode of training, and building common platforms and technologies to achieve consistency in training programs.
In 2018, the International Labour Organisation estimated that by 2030, three million new jobs will be created in the renewables sector in India. By shifting to a greener economy, combined with initiatives like Make in India, Digital India, the potential number of jobs created will be quite significant.
