Solar Training in Fiji

Victron training reaches the parts few others can reach!

There are a lot of solar installers in Fiji.

Across the country’s 300 hundred islands, spread over half a million square miles – of which 98% is water – demand for solar energy system in far flung habitations and enterprises has to be met by local installers.

Victron distributor Solar Fiji wanted to improve the skill base of the country’s solar installers – allowing them to specify and build correctly-sized installations, professionally. Reducing errors results in happier customers and fewer warranty enquiries.

Solar Fiji recognised that the solution was to host a two day training event which was provided by Australia based Ciaram Granger of MyEnergy Engineering.

About 60 technicians from companies across the nation attended the event in which the training was structured in a two-way dialogue format – with attendees encouraged to ask questions at any time. The session focused on Victron Energy programming, functionality, the breadth of possible applications, and was held at Fiji Solar’s base in Nasinu, Fiji.

Solar Fiji Business Manager Ayshna Radri says: “The technicians who attended the training purchase Victron products from us but handle their own installations. The primary challenge they faced was in the configuration and wiring of the systems, particularly for 3-phase and parallel systems – but also single-phase setups. This training was aimed at improving their understanding of these aspects, and reducing potential issues during installation.

The training also focused on remote monitoring access – a really important service in our location. Ciaram provided a detailed explanation of all the functionalities of Victron Remote Management (VRM).”

Victron Remote Management allows engineers to access systems remotely. It allows detailed analysis of data – just as if you were on site – but even better than that it will notify engineers of problems – such as an alarm status – automatically …even before the customer is aware of it.

Ayshna says: “We had great feedback from the attendees who had undertaken journeys from Viti Levu (Central – Suva, Lami; Western – Lautoka, Nadi) and Vanua Levu – Labasa to get here.

“It was a win-win, for us: the training session empowers technicians; informs them of the capabilities of Victron Energy devices, and will lead to increased sales – plus we were able to provide a great Fijian experience and develop closer ties with Ciaram Granger – our main distributor and service provider!