There are many details that need to be taken into account before a solar system can produce the optimum yield – from the correct orientation and mounting of the PV modules to the connection to the grid.

Many questions need to be answered on site: What is the electricity demand? Is there a grid? Grid failures? Tariffs and costs? From this, the type of solar system can be derived.
Then there are other questions to determine the size of the solar generator: Where can the solar generator be placed? In which direction? Inclination? How much sunlight is there? Shading from objects? Seasonal influences? What is the course of the day? …

We draw up a list of questions and systematically collect all the data we need to design the system.

In this first planner course, we had to learn a lot of basics – and above all: how to teach this content in the African context? The learning culture is very different from ours. Here you learn by watching and imitating… There is little interest in mathematical formulae and functions.