ENHANCING THE DEVELOPMENT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SKILLS AMONG POLYTECHNIC ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING STUDENTS FOR SUSTAINABLEGREEN ECONOMY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study ascertained ways of enhancing the development of renewable energy technology skills among Polytechnic electrical/electronic engineering students for sustainable green economy in Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. The population of the study was 2584 subjects (2322 final year students and 262 lecturers) from in Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori. Purposive sampling was used to obtain 38 electrical/electronic lecturers and 123 final year students as the study sample. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. A 30-item structured questionnaire titled “Solar Energy Technology Skills Development Questionnaire (SETSDQ)” was used to obtain data from respondents. The SETSDQ was validated by two experts in electrical engineering and an expert in measurement and evaluation. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained via Cronbach alpha method which yields a reliability coefficient of 0.79. From a total of 161 copies of questionnaires distributed to the respondents, only 150 (representing 93.2 percent) was retrieved and used for data analysis. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer theresearch questions and t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed among others, thatsolar panel installation,electrical engineering drawing, energy efficiency, and troubleshooting skills are needed for easy transition to a sustainable green economy in Nigeria. Furthermore, the study indicated that internship, lifelong learning, industry-institution partnership in the training of solar energy technologists among others are possible ways of enhancing the development of solar energy technology skills among polytechnic electrical/electronic engineering students. Consequently, it was recommended among others that Government should ensure the engagement of experienced trainers as solar energy technology lecturers and instructors in Nigerian polytechnics for rapid development of solar energy skills among electrical/electronic engineering students and also Government should ensure adequate fundingof solar energy technologyprogrammes in polytechnics for quick transition to green economy.