Like many of her Caribbean neighbors, the Bahamas faces an unusual conundrum. The island nation is blessed with an abundance of intense year-round sunshine, but it lacks the infrastructure – political, educational, technical – to take advantage of this solar bounty.
Fortunately, the situation is changing.
In regions like Ontario, Germany, and Japan – countries with far less sunshine than the Bahamas – local governments erected a range of incentives designed to encourage widespread solar adoption. These policies mostly succeeded, helping to bring solar electricity prices much closer to grid parity.
Solar Energy Installation Training in Bahamas
The Bahamas Solar Revolution?
Solar energy installations in the Bahamas probably won’t benefit from the same level of government investment, but that may not be a major problem. This is because, done correctly, solar energy installations in the Bahamas already bring PV electricity prices close to grid parity – sometimes much lower.
Like Jamaica, the Bahamas imports most of its fuel. As such, the country has some of the most expensive electricity in the region. In addition, silicon prices worldwide continue to fall, making solar installations increasingly affordable.
So even in the absence of government incentives, the rising cost of utility electricity and the growing affordability of a solar installation in the Bahamas are incentive enough.
Reaching that breakeven point, however, requires something that the Bahamas currently does not have – accredited solar PV installation training and electrical certification.
To be fair, the US has a fairly fragmented and largely voluntary system for its own solar accreditation. Professional installers don’t need electrical certification or formal training to begin working on roofs – a fact that sometimes leads to terrible consequences.
But the US does have momentum on its side – a whole body of best practices culled from a large army of solar installers across the country. The Bahamas is not so fortunate. Its solar industry is still very much in its infancy.
As such, a growing number of Bahaman residents fly to the US to receive their solar PV training and electrical certification. Although the numbers are modest right now, this trickle helps to bring best practices and technological knowhow to the island nation.
Bahama’s Path to a Solar-Powered Future
Over time as electricity prices rise and PV prices fall, the Bahamas will hopefully have a solar workforce capable of meeting inevitable consumer demand for installations. And with enough time, it may even have sufficient demand to design its own solar courses complete with electrical certification, safety training, and everything else needed for a successful solar revolution.
In the meantime, if you’re interested in securing stateside solar PV training that you can take back to the Bahamas, sign up for one of our courses today.
