Developing global quality standards for the accreditation of PV training programs and the certification of PV practitioners' knowledge and skills competencies

With the rapid growth and expansion of the photovoltaic (PV) marketplace, customers and financing institutions will increasingly require assurances of design, installation, and maintenance competency and professionalism, as well as some qualification of the proliferating training programs. This paper details the international effort over the last 5 years to coordinate and develop a framework of global standards for the accreditation of PV training programs and a number of quality PV practitioner competency certifications, including participating countries and development support efforts by The World Bank, the US Department of Energy and the European Union.