Country assessment and development of project report for setting up Solar Technology Application Resource Centre (STAR C) in Benin, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh

ISA aimed to have a number of STAR centers across the globe acting as shared facilities that provided capacity for deployment of solar energy applications and research, business modeling, incubation, training, standardization, and testing, engaging faculty members from different disciplines/institutes of excellence and providing/using shared facilities, labs, testing centers, etc. To have accelerated impact, ISA aimed to strengthen the existing regional and national level infrastructure, mainly institutes, training centers, and facilities performing one or more functions. ISA member countries could build upon the existing institutes or set up new institutions as a STAR-Center. Several institutions in the same region, each covering one or more activities of the STAR-C program, could qualify as STAR-C. National centers undertook research on innovative solar technologies and/or provided technical training aiming at empowering policymakers, engineers, project developers, and training trainers. These centers could be research and innovation centers, national universities, test centers, national training institutions, R&D centers, vocational training centers, etc. They could perform one or more functions on thermal and photovoltaic solar energy, assisting academic trainees, policymakers, industry, and end-users.