National Workshop for the Enforcement of the Harmonized Regional Standards for Solar Home Systems up to 350 Wp

The ECOWAS Commission through the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) organized in collaboration with the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and the Federal Ministry of Energy from 14 to 15 April 2025 in Abuja, Nigeria a seminar for more than 25 Nigerian experts on the application of harmonized regional standards for off-grid solar photovoltaic products up to 350 WATTS.

The main objective of the seminar is to ensure that the adopted standards for Off-Grid Solar products are well known and well implemented at the national level by the authorities and relevant stakeholders (experts from SON, Federal Ministry of Power, Federal Ministry of Industry, Rural Electrification Agency, Energy Commission, Custom Office, Consumer Organization…).

In July 2023, the ECOWAS Council of Ministers adopted two regional standards through Regulation C/REG.12/07/23:

• ECOSTAND IEC TS 62257-9-8:2020: Renewable energy systems and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 9-8: Integrated systems and;
• ECOSTAND IEC TS 62257-9-5:2018: Recommendations for renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification – Part 9-5;

Following the recommendation of the Honorable Ministers of Industry, ROGEAP has supported 8 countries for the enforcement of the adopted standards. During these two days, the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s received technical assistance from ROGEAP for the effective enforcement of the standards related to Off-Grid Solar products.

After the two days of training, the experts’ skills will be reinforced to enable them to serve as ambassadors to the public and lead the enforcement campaigns in the communities.

The overall objective of setting up a quality and assurance framework for Off-Grid Solar products in the Region is to clean up the market for poor-quality solar PV products and protect the consumers.

ROGEAP is the World Bank, Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) funded project and implemented by ECOWAS Commission for the Component 1 (Developing a Regional Off-Grid Solar Market).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).