SET2018_paper_42.pdf (400.1 kB)
An economically viable PV hybrid micro-grid model for remote villages in developing countries
conference contribution
posted on 2018-09-14, 13:32 authored by Saffiya Osman, Yong Wu, Richard BlanchardRichard BlanchardAfrica contains a significant portion of the world’s population who are in energy poverty. The Sub-Saharan
region, in particular, is laden with low electrification rates and high energy prices. This restricts affordable and reliable energy access, specifically in urban slums and rural communities. Decreasing component costs, such as photovoltaic (PV) modules have allowed for renewable energy systems to compete with fossil fuels and in some cases, can also gain an economic as well as environmental advantage. This study looks at the feasibility of incorporating PV into the many existing diesel-fueled mini-grids in Tanzania, offering a hybrid renewables-based system using HOMER software. Using the net present cost (NPC) and levelised cost of electricity (COE) designs were optimised to provide cleaner and cheaper electricity, when compared to the existing diesel counterparts. A hybrid PV-diesel system with battery storage proved the most economical with a COE of $0.29/kWh compared to the diesel-fueled COE of $0.35,
a 16% decrease. The NPC for the hybrid model was $1,726,922 compared to $2,056,400 for the diesel model, proving the potential financial benefits of converting mini-grids across Tanzania to renewable energy.
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Published in
SET2018. The 17th International Conference on Sustainable Energy TechnologiesCitation
OSMAN, S., WU, Y. and BLANCHARD, R.E., 2018. An economically viable PV hybrid micro-grid model for remote villages in developing countries. Presented at the 17th International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies (SET 2018), Wuhan, China, 21st-23rd August 2018.Version
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Acceptance date
2018-03-05Publication date
2018Notes
This is a conference paper.Publisher version
Language
- en