Solar O&M Training — Kassala, Sudan

As part of the UNDP Healthcare Solarisation Project, MIMAH ran a training programme in Kassala State for the people who run these solar systems day to day: health facility staff, technicians and local operators, including women health workers from the facilities themselves. The customer is UNDP Sudan; the end users are the National Medical Supplies Fund (NMSF) and the Federal Ministry of Health.

110 health facilities across Sudan now run on solar power through this project. Hardware alone does not keep a clinic powered; the people on site do. In Kassala, that means staff who can read the system, catch problems early and keep the vaccine fridge cold through the night.

Theory came first, in sessions at the training venue: how the facility solar system fits together, what the inverter and battery cabinet actually do, how to read performance, and which warning signs mean it is time to call an engineer.

Then the group moved to the plant room. With the cabinet doors open, MIMAH trainers stepped through the system component by component - the inverter display, the breakers and the control package - with trainees close enough to point, ask and photograph. A trainee who has stood in front of the live equipment with a trainer is far more confident the day a warning light comes on alone.

Trained staff on site mean fewer outages, longer equipment life and less waiting for outside technicians. For the clinics in Kassala, it means the fridge holding vaccines stays cold and the lights stay on during a night delivery.