The Global Solar Council (GSC) and Global Wind Organisation (GWO) will collaborate to develop a set of standards for the world’s solar PV technicians, as they look to standardise qualifications for workers in the sector.
The GSC noted that its Solar Training Standards Initiative would look to formalise training practices and qualifications for solar technicians, and deliver “reduced transaction costs, safety assurance and improved productivity”. The GWO, meanwhile, implemented a similar set of training standards in 2012, helping to set a precedent for the solar sector.
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“Having a global standard is essential due to the global nature of the solar sector so that workers possess universally recognised and transferable skills, reducing the transaction cost of deploying solar,” said GSC CEO Sonia Dunlop.
“This not only creates more opportunities for the solar workforce, but will be invaluable to ensure the quality of solar installations for a sustainable and just energy transition.”
While the GSC and GWO did not set a timeframe for the implementation of these standards, new frameworks would follow a number of others in the sector. There are a number of training standards currently in place around the global solar sector, but many are market-specific, with bodies such as the American Clean Power Association (ACP) offering their own guidelines, and the GSC is looking to leverage its global position to unite many of these components.
The council also specified that its standards would work in concert with existing practices, naming the ACP’s Guidelines for Entry Level Solar Technician Training as a framework for providing job role definitions and guidelines.
The news is the latest move by the GSC, which appointed Dunlop, its new CEO, last November. Dunlop spoke to PV Tech Premium earlier this year about the opportunities for investors in the global solar sector, calling the level of funding for solar projects, which averaged more than US$1 billion per day in 2023, “incredible”.