Targeted training program promotes Pacific nation’s long-term sustainability through its inclusive design.
A UNSW international partnership that fosters greater solar literacy is helping reduce e-waste and improve energy access in Vanuatu.
The pilot project reframed solar product repair and maintenance as essential skills, delivering targeted training in the provinces of Penama and Tafea. It generated opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment across the archipelago.
The research prioritised broad knowledge sharing and inclusion for cumulative impact, says project co-lead Scientia Associate Professor Paul Munro from UNSW’s School of Humanities & Languages.
“Vanuatu’s population is widespread and diverse. There are more than 130 Indigenous languages spoken in addition to Bislama, the lingua franca, and the colonial languages of English and French,” he says.
“Rather than introducing new energy infrastructure, the project supports the upkeep and restoration of existing systems through inclusive training.
“More than 93,000 people across both provinces now have improved access to solar repair services.”
While off-grid solar improves the quality of life, many products function for less than two years, he says. Field research indicated households own an average of 3.7 solar devices; more than 40% of these are no longer working.
“With an estimated 61,950 off-grid solar products across Penama and Tafea alone, ensuring the upkeep and restoration of existing household solar systems is essential for protecting the planet.”
The two-year project, Off-Grid Solar Maintenance, Repair and Entrepreneurship in Vanuatu, was conducted in partnership with the Vanuatu Department of Energy; the Vanuatu Institute of Technology; and the Vanuatu Disability Promotion and Advocacy (VDPA) Association.
Its interdisciplinary team included Dr Shanil Samarakoon (UNSW Engineering/School of Humanities & Languages) and Dr Joyce Wu (School of Social Sciences) with key input from experts within the School of Education, the UNSW Disability Innovation Institute and UNSW Engineering.
Funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs & Trading (DFAT), it provided train-the-trainer, vocational and secondary-school programs for impact at national, provincial and local levels respectively.
The project – also known as Fixim Sola, Bislama for fixing solar – helps improve lives, livelihoods and climate resilience across Vanuatu, with a focus on women and people living with disability.
“Women are often the primary users of household energy, yet they are frequently marginalised from the technical spaces surrounding energy systems,” A/Prof. Munro says.
“Addressing this imbalance, ensuring training is accessible and foregrounding the needs of people living with disability was central to the research.”
Universal access to affordable, reliable modern energy by 2030 is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG7). “Access to energy has intersectional benefits, including for agriculture, business, communications, education and healthcare,” A/Prof. Munro says.
“So, energy is often seen as central to reducing inequities, enabling greater opportunities and meeting diverse goals.”
Vanuatu is made up of 65 inhabited islands; only four have grid electricity. The rapid global expansion of off-grid solar technologies has enabled large numbers of the population to access electricity, A/Prof. Munro says.
“These technologies take many forms, including small solar lanterns, solar home systems powering a few lights, or larger systems capable of running appliances, such as televisions and freezers critical for fishing communities on these islands,” says the expert in energy justice.
“Across many regions including Africa, Asia and the Pacific, these technologies have become ubiquitous.”
In Vanuatu, the uptake of off-grid solar products surged from 3.3% of the population in 2009 to 67.3% in 2020. In the same period, grid connections remained marginally unchanged.
An estimated 90% of households in Penama and Tafea own solar products. Households rarely rely on a single rooftop solar system, like those common in Australia, he says.
“Instead, they adopt a bricolage approach, for example, with a system for lighting individual rooms, another for television and another for charging mobile phones, all scattered across their roofs.”
As solar energy use grows across Vanuatu’s outer islands, so does the challenge of managing broken or discarded solar equipment, he says.
Budget designs, black-boxed technologies, limited capacity and training, and supply chain issues for spare parts promote replacement over repair, rendering warranties effectively meaningless. This compounds the issue of solar e-waste with regulatory frameworks unable to keep pace.
“The Vanuatu solar market is also dominated by a small number of suppliers around [the capital] Port Vila, which shapes the types of products available. Local repair capacity is limited.
“Training local people to safely repair, maintain and reuse solar systems turns waste into opportunity.”
The project reframes solar product repair and maintenance as essential skills. Photo: Supplied
More than 140 people were trained throughout the program’s targeted programs, including 48 girls and women (34% of all participants).
Of vocational training participants, 8% reported having a disability, gaining critical skills to support income generation. Approximately 5.1% of the population is reported to be living with a disability, according to the 2020 census.
Members of the Vanuatu Disability Promotion and Advocacy (VDPA) Association and representatives from women’s groups provided input to ensure the project responded to the needs of vulnerable communities.
Women played key leadership and implementation roles, including project management, data collection, and working as secondary and vocational trainers. Focus groups were conducted with women’s church groups, weaving groups and local community organisations to gather insights and ensure outcomes were responsive to their needs.
Vocational training and secondary schools emerged as critical infrastructure to improve understanding, problem‑solving skills and confidence in performing repairs, A/Prof. Munro says.
The project developed open-access training materials, including a school-focused curriculum for senior secondary students and a vocational training curriculum focused on technical solar repair.
At a national level, train-the-trainer programs were run to strengthen skills among Vanuatu Institute of Technology (VIT) staff. This provided strong foundations for VIT’s upcoming Certificate IV in Renewable Energy.
“It also fostered closer partnerships between VIT and Port Vila solar suppliers, promoting ongoing training collaborations as VIT expands with new vocational centres opening across multiple provinces.”
Vocational training in Penama and Tafea drew 83 participants from surrounding islands. Graduates have established a community of practice and several enterprises, including a repair business (Central Tanna), a repair cooperative (West Tanna), and a solar repair hub (Penama).
More than 40 senior secondary students and staff undertook extracurricular training in two school pilots at Lini Memorial College and Tafea College. Plans are in progress to scale up and embed the program within the curriculum.
“Adolescents already perform many tasks in the home, such as changing light globes. Training them in solar maintenance allows them to extend the life of systems and perform basic repair safely,” A/Prof. Munro says.
“Additionally, senior secondary schools exist on just nine islands. When students travel home, they disperse their skills, allowing knowledge to ripple through the archipelago.”
Discussions are in progress with the Vanuatu Qualifications Authority to introduce formal accreditation to future vocational and school programs.
Training was delivered in the provinces of Penama and Tafea. Photo: Supplied (Central Tanna, Old Area Council Office)
The research prioritised broad knowledge sharing and inclusion. Photo: Supplied (Pentecost Island interview, 2024)
In October 2025, 12 UNSW undergraduate students spent a month conducting research on Tanna Island, South Vanuatu working with VIT students and vocational training graduates, through the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan.
They partnered with local area councils to develop strategies for strengthening local solar repair, producing repair guidebooks in Bislama, instructional videos, poster campaigns, as well as helping to establish repair cooperatives and small businesses.
The project model – encompassing the partnership with VIT, vocational and school training and UNSW student placements – is highly replicable and scalable, A/Prof. Munro says.
“Similar needs exist across the Pacific, particularly in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands. We are collaborating with partners in these countries to extend the project to these new contexts.”
In May 2026, Fixim Sola was awarded the Macquarie Community Resilience Prize. The US$200,000 in prize money will aid in upscaling the project’s activities in Vanuatu and across the Pacific.
Train-the-trainer, vocational and secondary-school programs delivered impact at national, provincial and local levels. Photo: Supplied
UNSW School of Humanities & Languages
Scientia Associate Professor Paul Munro
Pillar 6: Create a sustainable future
