Solar apprenticeship

This project aims to address two issues. Ghana has reliable and strong sunshine, and poor electricity provision in rural areas, but there is a dearth of people experienced in solar technology and installation practices. Young people in rural areas lack career opportunities.

Introduction

Ever since we first visited in 2017, Aframano has been promised mains electricity, but at the time of writing in 2024 it is still waiting. The high-voltage pilons are there, but not connected, and the transformers and drop-cables to houses are not installed yet. That’s been the situation for the last six years. Our 2018 mechanised borehole is barely in use, because we opted for using a diesel generator as a “temporary” measure on the assurance that electricity would arrive within a year. Diesel is too expensive for the community to afford. We would love to solarise it, but there is no local company doing solar power installations nearby, and it is difficult to persuade a company six hours away in Accra to make the journey.

Aframano is not alone. There are hundreds of villages in our region without electricity. Some, the larger ones, have been promised it; others, typically smaller and more remote, have not.

But solar is surely the right solution, not just for our borehole in Aframano, but more generally for the provision of electricity in rural areas. Young people have few career options in Ghana, so we think it’s a great idea to sponsor a suitable young person to become an apprentice for about six months in Accra. We will pay the accommodation and transport costs, and a modest stipend. The apprentice will get trained in solar installations on the job, and eventually return to Ashanti and set up a solar business there. We’ve found OrLA Technologies and its owner, and they are enthusiastic to host the apprentice.