At its Annual General Meeting, held on June 20, 2023, the PVSYST Foundation approved its 2022 activity report. It contains information about the projects we support, prospects for new projects, and the Foundation itself. This allows us to share the results of our projects for 2022.

PROMESS Project - PROfessionals for Solar and Solidarity Energy Management

See the PROMESS project description

Main results of the PROMESS project in 2022

At institutional level

The project's partner, "Une Lumière Dans La Rue" (ULDLR), continued its efforts to strengthen both its internal and external institutions. The academic inspectorate met again in November 2022 to make progress on the official recognition of the diploma issued by PROMESS. The most appropriate certification to apply for, given the curriculum and content of PROMESS, is the CPS (Certificat de Professionnalisation Spécialisée). The project is moving forward and the team hopes to have the project completed by 2023.

Links have also been forged with the Centre Académique d'Orientation Scolaire et Professionnelle, to oversee the recruitment process for training candidates.

The partnership with LAGAZEL (Saint-Galmier - France) to install solar lamps and charging stations at the training center has been extended into 2022. This scheme enables young graduates to supplement their initial activity as solar installers by being paid for the assembly of these elements.

The official inauguration of the workshop in November 2022 provided an opportunity to bring together local players involved in youth integration.

A total of 2,113 lamps were assembled at the training center's workshop:

• 456 LK600 lamps
• 1,654 LK1500 lamps
• In addition, 31 charging stations have also been assembled, enabling the simultaneous recharging of 50 to 60 lamps.

These activities involved 7 PROMESS graduate operators.

In terms of training

Since PROMESS was launched, 128 learners have graduated from Module 2, 71 via initial training and 57 via continuing education.

In 2022, 2 initial training cohorts enabled 32 young people to complete the course. 10 graduated from the first cohort (out of 16 recruited, and 14 who passed their exams). The second cohort (16 young people recruited) will complete their course in 2023.

The first cohort of 11 learners on module 3 (solar pumping) had mixed results. The main pitfall is the extremely high hourly volume for a complementary module. As the vast majority of learners were active in the electrical/solar sector, their professional activities often prevented them from attending classes. As it stands, the organization of training needs to be rethought. A technical support mission from the Foundation was carried out in May 2023 to support this review.

With a strong emphasis on practical training, 44 training sites (for a total duration of 459 hours) were set up in 2022, involving an average of 5 trainees. These work-schools take place over a few days on the premises of private individuals, businesses or public authorities. With 43 trainees (initial training + pumping training) in training during 2022, each of them completed an average of 5.2 training sites, or 52 hours of practical work per trainee.

Lastly, 3 educational meetings were organized in 2022.

In terms of professional integration

The professional integration of trainees remains an important area for improvement for the project. Field assessments and discussions with the Cellule d'Immersion et d'Insertion Professionnelle (CIIP) have shown that the main barriers to finding workcamps can be :

• The remoteness of certain operators in rural areas, which limits the scope for cooperation between operators.
• Gender (in some cases, women are perceived as less legitimate)

Several incubators have been contacted to carry out a diagnosis of the situation of a sample of graduates, with a view to providing them with support. A pilot phase is scheduled for 2023.

At the same time, it was decided to create an in-house development officer position to strengthen the CIIP. This position is designed to canvass companies and local authorities to identify internships, jobs and worksite opportunities for graduate operators.

Finally, the learner follow-up survey has been relaunched for the last quarter of 2022. Of the 128 PROMESS graduates, 70 were contacted and shared their situation with the cell. Of these, 56% said they were active in the electricity and solar sectors, while 33% said they were moderately active.

PROMEE Project - PROfessionals for Energy Management in Kyrgyzstan

See the PROMEE project description

Main results of the PROMEE project in 2022

Identification and training of craftsmen

After an initial training/awareness session organized in November 2021, a second session was carried out by the partner team, CAMP Alatoo, in February 2022, which uncovered new training needs.

In response, a partnership has been set up between the Foundation and GERES (Groupe Energies Renouvelables, Environnement et Solidarités). A first assessment mission took place at the end of 2022. The training needs of craftsmen have been specified and qualified:

• Ventilation issues.
• Insulation of wooden floors is not widely practised, due to the technical dimension and the reluctance of some households.
• Insulating walls from the inside, as most insulation is currently done from the outside.

The second part of the GERES mission, aimed at practical training on these 3 components, took place in June 2023.

Financing facility for households

The project provides for a financing scheme to enable households to carry out energy improvements to their homes in a single operation, which are usually carried out in phases depending on household income. This pilot scheme is based on the principles of a "zero-interest loan", managed directly by CAMP.

Since the start of the project, 15 worksites have been completed. 10 in 2022. The lower-than-expected figure is due to the higher-than-expected overall cost of the work carried out. The first 13 projects have exhausted the fund. The next 2 were carried out with funds reimbursed by the first 13 beneficiary households. This means that the households concerned to date have chosen to carry out more work than the project expected, demonstrating :

• The good level of information provided by craftsmen about the usefulness of this work.
• Households' willingness to commit to more extensive work than the CAMP team had originally planned.

Energy consumption monitoring

The project includes a system for monitoring energy consumption and temperature. In 2022, 25 probes were installed in 11 homes (including 3 "test" homes, which had not undergone any insulation work).

These data will be analyzed at the end of winter, and will provide technical information on the effectiveness of the work.