Knowledge-building for beginners and professionals!

The academy for solar installers

E-Learning with emerce solar and smart energy installation courses is the perfect starting point for your venture into the solar market* – or the extension of your current solar business. With the help of our eAcademy, which includes a wide selection of videos and webinars, you can quickly and independently learn the ins and outs of solar installation and gain a much deeper knowledge of industry processes.

*N. B. As we are not an apprenticeship scheme and can’t provide training from scratch, you should already have a technical background, e.g. as an electrician, to get the most out of our courses.

eAcademy - join to find out what you wanted to know

Your hub for solar installation courses

Building on your existing technical background, emerce further supports you to extend your knowledge in photovoltaics and smart energy systems. The eAcademy is a hub of emerce expertise, while also benefiting from knowledge and experience supplied by our parent company, SMA Solar Technology AG.

Explore our online training videos

Our instructors

Our instructors Stefan Steffens, Brandon Benjamin and Thomas Rink are experts in the field of photovoltaic and smart energy systems and will assist you in expanding your PV knowledge.

Stefan Steffens

Founder of Rensol Africa, dynamic solar design consultant Stefan Steffens boasts 9 years’ experience in bringing about fully independent renewable energy solutions, including photovoltaic, storage and wind. He has played key roles in numerous solar PV projects across Southern and Central Africa, not only getting involved in the design phases but also helping with installation and sales processes.

Training facilitator for SMA South Africa since 2018, Stefan has a wealth of experience ranging from single-phase residential grid-tie to much larger three-phase off-grid systems. Stefan is happy working with clients to design and implement energy-efficient housing and systems, helping to bring about sustainable projects that look set to have a positive impact well into the future.

Brandon Benjamin

A specialized trainer for the Solar Academy South Africa, Brandon Benjamin also has a background in electrical engineering. His specialization is renewable energy systems, with a focus on technical estimation and electrical design of medium- to large-scale PV structures, as well as small- to medium-scale hybrid networks. Employed as an application engineer for SMA Solar Technology South Africa from the start of 2016, Brandon has seen his role grow into the company’s go-to person for any technical- and design-related inquiries.

Additionally, he provides valuable assistance to the service team through remote support for commissioning as well as troubleshooting. Brandon has aided with required onsite installation in the residential, commercial and utility sectors, making him an excellent all-rounder.

Thomas Rink

With a university degree in Chemical Process Engineering and as founder and former director of both Hapowi and RENEW GmbH, Thomas Rink certainly has an impressive résumé. Having worked in the field of environment and energy management for more than 25 years, you can count on Thomas as your trainer for planning and installing photovoltaic systems. From 3 kWp to 20 MWp, his experience consists of PV as well as renewable heating and cooling technologies. A career of being around various energy components means he knows all their ins and outs and is happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thomas’ understands the energy industry like no other, and with extensive practical experience to draw upon, he’s more than qualified to instruct you on PV system installations. His knowledge of our product portfolio is conveyed perfectly through our videos and webinars, from which you’re sure to benefit.