The educational project "Installation of solar power plants" was implemented with the support of the The Eberhard Schöck Foundation (Baden-Baden, Germany) in the LEPL College «Phazisi», Poti, Georgia.
As part of the project, a 16.5 kW solar power plant was installed on the roof of the college workshop and a two-day seminar was held for college students.
A 16.5 kW solar power plant was connected via a net-metering system to sell the surplus generated electricity to a Georgian energy retail company. This system will reduce the energy consumption of the college by a third, and the connection under the net-metering program will make it possible to efficiently use the generated electricity in the summer.
The seminar for 15 college students included both theoretical and practical parts. On the first day, students learned about the history of photovoltaics, global trends, energy transition, types of solar power plants and their components.
On the second day, students assembled and put into operation a hybrid solar power plant.
Also, with the help of software, they calculated a solar power plant for an industrial facility with the calculation of the station's productivity, assessment of capital and operating costs, and calculation of the payback period.
The main speaker of the course was Irakli Babunashvili, technical director of PV Georgia, who has practical skills and competencies in the implementation of various types of solar power plants.
As part of the opening of the seminar, the Agency of Professional Skills of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia emphasized the importance of the project for the development of the photovoltaic industry in the region and the country as a whole.
Next year, within the framework of cooperation between The Eberhard Schöck Foundation and EUROSOLAR Georgia, it is planned to conduct educational courses in colleges of Georgia on a regular basis in order to train specialists in working specialties for the installation of solar power plants.
