Across South and Southeast Asia, a growing share of clean energy is small-scale solar built close to where people live, often in places the main grid does not reliably reach. Each system is small, but there are many of them spread over wide areas, and installing and running them takes a large, dispersed workforce. Small-scale solar accounts for two in every three solar jobs worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency. Yet this workforce is rarely heard when decisions about the sector are made.
Without that perspective, energy targets and training programmes are often planned with an incomplete picture of who is available to do the work and on what terms. This panel brings together organizations working alongside this workforce in different countries to compare what they see on the ground, and to ask what needs to change so that policy and funding keep pace with the people building the energy transition.
A photo exhibition of distributed energy work from across the region will run alongside the panel, and questions from the audience, in the club and online, will guide the discussion. This event is hosted by Mee Panyar and Green Empowerment, as part of Bangkok Climate Action Week.
Speakers:
Natasha Allen, founder and managing director, Mee Panyar;
Noorulain Masood, founder and CEO, Sath-CSIDC;
Sheryl Estella, academy manager, New Energy Academy Philippines;
Moderator: Ayu Abdullah, co-founder and executive director, Energy Action Partners.
Free entry. But please register at https://forms.gle/oqYzqM4mzdE8dLFP7. The session will also be streamed online for registered participants. Coffee and tea will be served, with the bar and restaurant open.
