Training standards improve reliability, create capacity, and improve the availability of financing: Global training accreditation and certification for PV systems design, installation, and maintenance

Funding organizations and government agencies are very interested in accelerating the market development of sustainable energy technologies, but they often find that there is not an adequate infrastructure in place to successfully market, install, and provide service. Accredited training for certifying practitioners is seen as a necessary component for the mitigation of technical and financial risks. In addition, the certification of qualified practitioners will create local capacity through skilled jobs and expanded economic opportunities; and, by extension, it will improve the success rate of installed systems, thus expanding the potential market for the industry's products and services. Since 1995, the Institute for Sustainable Power, Inc. (ISP), has been working to develop a consensus among industry, the training community, and financial, investment, and development organizations, on the importance of a qualified, standardized training and certification infrastructure. Today, the ISP is working with the World Bank and other international development and lending institutions to formalize these consensus quality and competency standards in countries where they have active programs. Already, pilot programs are underway in the US (in California and Florida) and South Africa, with additional state and country programs planned for 1999