On 9 December, the International Solar Alliance, under
the aegis of its stellar capacity-building initiative (an in-country capacity-building facility), the
Solar Technology Application Resource Centre (STAR-C), inaugurated a Solar Academy at the
Ecole Polytechnique de Thiès (EPT) in Senegal. The centre, funded by the French Republic, was
inaugurated by HE Dr El Hadji Abdourahmane DIOUF, Minister of Higher Education, Research,
and Innovation, Senegal, in the presence of officials from the Senegalese Ministries of
Education and Energy, International Solar Alliance and diplomats from the French Mission in
Senegal. The Solar Academy will provide citizens of Senegal with long-term certified courses
on solar energy. The National Agency for Renewable Energies (ANER) of Senegal will act as
the focal for the Academy.
ISA’s STAR-Centre initiative aims to build the required human capacity and skills within Member
Countries to undertake energy transition independently while boosting economic growth and
job creation. STAR-Centres are hubs for upskilling, testing, standardisation, and creating new
enterprises that can ultimately contribute to a country meeting its global climate
commitments.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, HE Dr El Hadji Abdourahmane DIOUF, Minister of
Higher Education, Research, and Innovation, Senegal, highlighted three positive outcomes
from the launch of this initiative. The first key takeaway is that Senegal is addressing the issue
of solar energy—energy derived from the sun, an inexhaustible resource, crucial for a
developing country, especially given that Senegal is one of the sunniest countries in the world.
The second is the strong cooperation between the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry
of Petroleum, Energy, and Mines. The third takeaway is the essential partnership between
Senegal and international institutions and agencies. In this project, the government of Senegal,
through its ministries, works alongside organisations like the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO), International Solar Alliance and the French Embassy,
which also contributes to this initiative's success.
Sharing his greetings on the inauguration, Dr Ajay Mathur, Director General, ISA, said, “These
centres will be crucial in the coming years. The world needs the necessary human and
institutional capacity more than ever to support the growth and sustainability of the solar
energy sector. The good news is that more and more countries are expressing interest, and
therefore, the potential to form a regional and global network of STAR Centres is growing. In
2024, ISA launched seven STAR Centres in Ethiopia, Somalia, Bangladesh, Cote d’Ivoire,
Ghana, Cuba and Kiribati equipped with state-of-the-art technology.” He further added,
underlining the role of collaboration, “Transformative processes demand enhanced
international cooperation across stakeholder sets and sectors. ISA is actively engaging with
international governments and philanthropic organisations to amplify the impact of its
programmes and initiatives with the required technical and financial support.”
ISA has steered the setting up of STAR-Centres across its regions in Africa, Latin America and
the Caribbean, and the Asia Pacific. The STAR-Centre in Senegal has been completed under
the aegis of an ongoing project with the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France in
three pilot countries, namely, Bhutan, Senegal, and Papua New Guinea. In collaboration with
the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), ISA is developing and
harmonising solar product and service qualifications and standards. The partnership has
developed training curricula and delivered successful workshops training stakeholders on the
qualification framework. The project will soon deliver regional quality infrastructure frameworks
for solar photovoltaic energy in the East African Community (EAC) and the Pacific region, as
well as regional quality infrastructure frameworks for solar thermal energy in the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the EAC region. Senegal has been chosen
as a pilot country to initiate long-term courses, hence the ‘Solar Academy’ nomenclature. The
first short training session for solar PV technicians is ongoing and has 27 participants; the next
training session in the pipeline will focus on solar thermal energy.
About STAR-Centre Initiative
The STAR Centre in ISA Member Countries functions in the following ways:
• A Centre of Excellence for capacity building, testing, standardisation, and incubation.
This hub is a dedicated resource centre, delivering expertise to the government, private
sector, communities, and individuals and enabling decision-makers to prioritise
mainstreaming solar energy in the energy mix.
• Incentivise innovation and capable enterprises, standardised products & services.
• Strengthen local capacity, thus helping to de-risk investments and making countries
investment-ready.
• Promote green jobs by developing a pool of resources in countries lacking uptake of
solar energy and raising the professional standard of those engaged in solar power in
Member Countries.
• Drive investment by engaging financial institutions on the economic viability of solar
projects, identify and mitigate risks, and leverage large-scale and low-cost finance for
solar energy deployment.
ISA is at present working with 15 countries, namely, Venezuela, Benin, Guyana, Zimbabwe,
Chad, Belize, Niger, Djibouti, Fiji, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Senegal, Papua New Guinea,
Madagascar and Sudan to set up STAR Centres in the coming. All operational STAR Centres
have all necessary equipment, instruments, and pedagogy for multi-stakeholder training. It
uses a pedagogy of 30-course modules on different aspects of solar energy to raise
professional standards and allow businesses to employ a certified pool of technicians and
engineers. It also builds the capacity of government officers to integrate solar energy in
development schemes and programmes and financial institutions to make informed decisions
on project financing.