Education and training are key to understanding and installing Victron Energy products. Usually this involves training Victron Energy distributors and dealers, but in the Republic of Benin they have taken this one step further by providing education and training within the general populous. This is particularly relevant in Benin where solar systems play a key role in the country’s energy needs.

Teaching the teachers

What better place to start then – than with teachers themselves. In fact Axel Mathieu Foadey and Jules Yao Gnagbolou of NGCom Services, based in Cotonou, have done just this. Whilst NGCom Services is primarily an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) company, the ICT sector is also a driving force in both economic development and wider social change.

The headline image above shows Axel & Jules training teachers at a technical vocational school and the image below shows them carrying out hands-on solar system training for secondary school physics teachers. Once you’ve trained the teachers it is not long before classes full of students understand off-grid solar/battery/inverter systems.

Beyond training

As more people are trained, the level of understanding and the ability to install and manage a system improves.

In the first place it might be something as simple as safely handling and transporting Victron OPzS Batteries as shown below.

Other key skills are battery maintenance. Below technicians demonstrate refilling OPzS batteries with distilled water.

Once trained a professional Victron installer can carry out system commissioning.

Conclusion

No matter where and how Victron Energy products are used in the world, it is clear that education and training are key to professionally installed and managed systems. In the Republic of Benin, Axel Mathieu Foadey and Jules Yao Gnagbolou of NGCom Services are instrumental in doing just that, right at a grass roots level – long may they continue to provide this valuable service. We applaud them for this initiative.

John Rushworth