Assessing a rural electrification program in Malaysia: system performance analysis on 11 solar PV-diesel hybrid systems

In 2006, there was a significant numbers of schools in rural Sabah in Malaysia that had no access to 24-hours electricity. Extension of grid electricity networks becomes uneconomical because of the geographical conditions of these areas and the low electrical energy density demand of the population. Malaysia’s rural development policies, therefore, emphasizes on the need to improve the learning and living condition at the rural schools. The abundant solar energy resource in the region is used for providing alternative power supply for these schools. 160 schools in rural Sabah were installed with solar photovoltaic (PV)-diesel hybrid systems. Even though the systems have been in operation for some years, knowledge informing the systems performance is difficult to find. Thus, understanding the system operation is a highly valuable experience and lessons can be learned for implementation of the rural electrification program (REP). This paper describes the finding from a field study at 11 solar PV-diesel hybrid systems. It highlighted some parameters that define the reliability of a solar PV system. The solar PV systems installed at schools in rural Sabah were found to be reliable. They reduced dependency on the diesel fuel consumption and fully utilized clean energy from the sun. It is essential to have reliable solar PV system that can provide sufficient energy for the load demand.