Memmingen, 18 September 2009. Phaesun GmbH, a systems provider based in Memmingen, Germany, has taught technical and economical details of solar technology to 60 Ugandan participants for one week. Working along with Phaesun were four German partner companies, the German Solar Industry Association BSW-Solar and the GTZ. Representatives from 30 Ugandan solar companies, as well as potential industry clients and bank representatives, took part in the training workshop “Develop Solar!” in Uganda’s capital Kampala.
A practical part rounded off the lectures, panel discussions and company visits. Together with the participants, the solar experts from Germany installed three solar power plants on the roofs of the training centre. “We dimensioned both of the smaller systems with outputs of 195 and 330 watts, respectively, for lighting and operation of radios, televisions and refrigerators”, explains Phaesun’s employee Matthias Kaiser. In contrast, the “minigrid system” with an output of 1050 watts was conceived to electrify apartment houses, hospitals and farms that are located far from the grid.
Solar Projects in Uganda since 2005
In addition to dimensioning the systems, the offgrid specialist from Memmingen was also responsible for the overall logistics of the training workshop. Phaesun has a lot of experience in this area and is well versed in conditions typical to a country. For example, “in most countries outside Europe, one needs a certificate of origin for every individual component from the manufacturer and further documents to handle customs whenever products are imported. We prepared or obtained all the documents in order to import the solar plants into Uganda”, explains Matthias Kaiser. Phaesun exports about half of its products to Africa. The company has been active in Uganda since 2005.
“Until now, we have primarily carried out projects in Uganda with the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)”, reports Boumedien Habibes, who is Phaesun’s sales manager for Africa and France. “The workshop in Uganda went very well for us. We convinced the solar companies on location of our know-how and our products, and subsequently wrote numerous quotations. The Uganda solar companies want to become the photovoltaic market leader in eastern Africa. I look forward to the further development of this very promising market”.