National Consultant for the Assessment, Costing and Lessons Learned on School Rooftop Solarization

Organizational Context

UNICEF works in over 190 countries to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential. Committed and passionate, UNICEF promotes the rights of every child, offering diverse opportunities for professional and personal development. It fosters a culture of belonging and growth, serving children and communities worldwide with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Job Purpose

UNICEF Bhutan, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Skills Development, supported the installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar rooftop panels at Sakten Lower Secondary School. This initiative aimed to provide alternative lighting, augment power supply, and ensure uninterrupted hot water for hostels, promoting health and hygiene. It also served as a Climate Change Education project, demonstrating school rooftop solarization as a reliable energy alternative and a green practice, and a hands-on STEM learning laboratory. This consultancy aims to assess and cost this pioneering rooftop solarization scheme, documenting its benefits, challenges, and lessons learned. The findings will inform decision-making and potential scale-up of similar projects, establishing efficient approaches and implementation modalities for future initiatives.

Responsibilities

The consultant will first develop a methodology, workplan, tools, and a data request list, including school bills and project documents, to prepare for assessing the system's inputs and outputs. A plan for field data collection, involving observations, interviews with district authorities, school leadership, teachers, and technicians, will also be prepared. During the field assessment at Sakten MSS, the consultant will verify system configuration and performance indicators, review installation quality and safety practices, and document operational routines, including monitoring responsibility and maintenance. A benefits assessment will validate electricity consumption/costs, establish grid outage frequency, and evaluate the solar facility's use as a STEM learning tool, assessing its support for science curriculum, Climate Change Education, and sustainability-related learning outcomes. Environmental and energy resilience benefits, such as diversification of renewable energy sources and improved reliability, will also be assessed. Finally, the consultant will develop a life-cycle costing spreadsheet, including CAPEX, OPEX, and O&M, to determine financial metrics like payback and Levelized Cost of Electricity.

Work Experience

The provided text does not explicitly state specific work experience requirements for this consultancy.

Skills

Technical Assessment (Solar PV), Costing and Financial Analysis, Data Collection and Analysis, Report Writing, Project Evaluation, Stakeholder Interviewing, Methodology Development, Sustainability Assessment, STEM Education Integration, Climate Change Concepts, Problem Identification, Recommendation Development

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