A comparative evaluation of household preferences for solar photovoltaic standalone and mini-grid system: An empirical study in a costal village of Indian Sundarban

Solar PhotoVoltaic (SPV) based systems have been widely accepted technology for rural electrification in developing countries. The standalone SPV home lighting system has increasingly been popular among rural households, while SPV mini-grid supply system is being promoted for rural electrification schemes. This study uses data from household survey to explore the impact of household characteristics on the preference for electrical energy from SPV systems. Econometric evidence shows heterogeneity in behavioural pattern for these two SPV systems. The flexibility in use and cost of systems might explain this difference. Household characteristics such as monthly household income, household size, occupational status of household head, number of room and type of house significantly influence household’s decision for SPV standalone home lighting systems. For SPV mini-grid supply household’s income and monthly expenditure on kerosene are significant predictors. The result reported in this paper might be a valuable input for policy makers to frame right policy mix with regard to provide subsidy on rural electrification programmes.     

Institutional uncertainty and its effect on electricity supply choices for fringe of grid consumers

This paper explores institutional issues and, using a planning methodology able to incorporate risk and uncertainty, explores the affect of these issues on the determination of least cost planning solutions. Energy supply options for remote and fringe of grid consumers in New South Wales (NSW), Australia include grid connection, where the cost of connection is paid by the consumer and Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS) systems which may be bought or leased from a RAPS supplier. The methodology exposes these candidate supply options to a large set of scenarios which incorporate the decision maker’s view of the future in respect of institutional, demand and technological uncertainty. The resulting distribution of economic and performance outcomes can aid the decision maker to take risk sensitive decisions. Case study examples incorporating effects of institutional uncertainty suggest that RAPS systems are adaptable and risk-adverse energy supply options.     

Comparative study of two new energy control systems based on PEMFC for a hybrid tramway in Ecuador

This article presents a comparison of two alternative systems to supply the traction power of a tramway in Cuenca–Ecuador. Each system studies the effective combination of supercapacitors, lithium ion batteries and proton exchange membrane fuel cells (SC/LIB/PEMFC) on board. The first system uses renewable sources (PV/HKT/GB/Grid) supplying the on-board systems through the existing grid and hydrogen charging stations. While the second system uses only grid power from a single point of charge, leaving the tramway without any external connection point throughout their journey. The energy and economic analyses are based on the capacity of each system to supply the load and the resources used.The results show that the new proposed control systems, by means of the analysed configurations made up of different control states, are always capable of perfectly supplying the power required by the tramway throughout their journey. However, when using energy from renewable sources, hydrogen consumption decreases by 4.27% with respect to the grid on each round trip, with a lower net present cost. Furthermore, in the first proposed system, the depth of discharge in SC and LIB is greater.     

Wind diesel design and the role of short term flywheel energy storage

Wind diesel hybrid systems can often provide a cost effective solution to electricity supply in many rural and grid remote applications. The potential market for such stand alone systems is vast. The sizing and design of these systems to suite a given application is non-trivial. Design principles for wind diesel systems are presented with stress placed on the role of short term energy storage. It is shown that flywheels are the most appropriate form of energy storage. A user-friendly software package to help engineers design wind diesel systems has been developed over the last three years with support from the CEC's JOULE programme. The modelling and software development was undertaken cooperatively by several EEC and EFTA countries. An brief introduction to the software, which models both logistic and dynamic aspects of system operation, is provided and there is a discussion of its validation.     

Electrifying China: Off-grid power supply of villages in China

AC coupling has proven itself in different kinds of system during the last couple of years. Especially in the electrification of off-grid, remote areas, this technology ensures a flexible and sound energy supply. Projects in the world show how important this technology already is and will become for the design of efficiently working island grid systems. This system technology will further expand its position in the coming years to appear in other international projects.The modularity of the system has made it easy to adjust the systems without any great difficulty to the demands of the energy supplier or of the end-users. System integrators like Shell Solar connect these new technologies with their long-term experience and use them successfully.     

Territorial competitiveness of the stand alone photovoltaic systems versus grid electricity supply. A method and a study based on geographical information systems

Stand alone photovoltaic power systems (SAPPS) are a natural option for application in the electrification of remote areas which are outside the grid-connected electricity supply system (GCESS). The proposed method is based on three ambits: photovoltaic and grid sizing, economic analysis, and the integration of information and development of models within geographical information systems (GIS). The results of a case study carried out in the south of Spain (province of Córdoba) show that for a domestic electricity consumption (5 kW h/day) SAPPS are economically more competitive in 69% of the total area of this region.     

On the design and optimization of distributed energy resources for sustainable grid-integrated microgrid in Ethiopia

This paper presents a study that focuses on alleviating the impacts of grid outages in Ethiopia. To deal with grid outages, most industrial customers utilize backup diesel generators (DG) which are environmentally unfriendly and economically not viable. Grid-integration of hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) might be a possible solution to enhance grid reliability and reduce environmental and economic impacts of utilizing DG. In this study, an optimization of grid integrated HRES is carried out for different dispatch and control strategies. The optimal power supply option is determined by performing comparative analysis of the different configurations of grid integrated HRES. The result of the study shows that grid integrated HRES consisting of photovoltaic and wind turbine as renewable energy sources, and battery and hydrogen as hybrid energy storage systems is found to be the optimal system to supply the load demand. From the hydrogen produced on-site, the FC generator and FCEVs consume 143 620 kg/yr of hydrogen which is equivalent to 394 955 kg/yr gasoline fuel consumption. This corresponds to saving 1 184 865 kg/yr of CO₂ emissions and 605 703 $/yr revenue. Besides, this system yields 547 035.4 $/yr revenue by injecting excess electricity to the grid. The study clearly shows the economic and environmental viability of this new technology for implementation.     

Application of photovoltaic array for pumping water as an alternative to diesel engines in Jordan Badia,Tall Hassan station: Case study

The availability of water and the ability to access are the key questions arising in developing countries including Jordan, which is the fourth poorest country in the world regarding water resources. Renewable energy, especially solar energy, can potentially play a role in the supply of safe water in Jordan Badia, where nearly 80% of the total area of Jordan is Badia, and in most cases these deep wells are far away from the national grid electricity, and in some of these areas there is an important quantity of groundwater at shallow depths. This paper introduces and compares the cost-effectiveness and the Present Value Cost (PVC) for the economic evaluation of power supply for pumping systems in remote areas in Northern Badia of Jordan by two different energy supply systems, photovoltaic systems and diesel engines.Many variables are taken into account such as the fuel prices, and the required investments. The comparison is made for a wide range of variable values, total head, tank capacity, photovoltaic array peak power and pumping requirements. A case study in Tall Hassan station is conducted to analyze the two power supply pumping systems, which are designed to supply drinking water.The results obtained are useful for choosing the best alternative for the power supply of pumping systems in wells in Northern Badia of Jordan.     

Modelling of hybrid energy system—Part III: Case study with simulation results

This paper presents the results of the application of model (developed in part I) and simulation algorithm (developed in part II) for determining the techno-economics of battery storage type hybrid energy system intended to supply the load of a rural remote area having a cluster of nine villages (grid isolated). The hour-by-hour simulation model is intended to simulate a typical one month period of system operation. For simulation purpose, hourly solar insolation data and load data have been generated and used as an input data. Demand side management (DSM) is used in this study to smooth out the daily peaks and fill valleys in the load curve to make the most efficient use of energy sources. The economic analysis has resulted in the calculation of optimized hourly, daily, and monthly system unit cost of proposed hybrid energy system. The obtained results represent also a helpful reference for energy planners in Uttarakhand state and justify the consideration of hybrid energy systems more seriously.     

A case study of solar photovoltaic power system at Sagardeep Island,India

The application of renewable energy in electric power system is growing fast. Photovoltaic and wind energy sources are being increasingly recognized as cost-effective generation sources for remote rural area isolated power system. This paper presents the performance analysis of solar photovoltaic (SPV) system installed at Sagardeep Island in West Bengal state of India. The technical and commercial parameters are used to carry out the performance analysis. The effect of the SPV installation on social life is also studied. SPV installations not only provide electricity to people but also raised their standard of living.     

Feasibility study of a solar water pumping system

Solar photovoltaic (SPV) water pumping systems have the potential to provide clean drinking water to millions of unserved people around the world. The abundant solar energy resource and groundwater availability in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) can be combined to make much needed potable water available to remote island communities in these countries. This paper looks at the feasibility of using a SPV pumping system in one of the villages in the Fiji Islands.     

All year power supply with off-grid photovoltaic system and clean seasonal power storage

The objective of the project is an all-year secure supply of alternating current based on a solar energy island grid consisting of serial components and seasonal energy storage. Photovoltaic modules, inverters, electrolysers, batteries, hydrogen stores and fuel cells form the basis of the independent power supply system. For this, selected load profiles were analysed and evaluated in theory and practice.The analysis is based on the results of the test runs of the system and the simulations, in which the combined hydrogen-battery-system is compared to the battery system.It was revealed that it is sensible to complement an island grid operating on lead batteries for shortterm energy supply with hydrogen as a long-term store. This ensures a year-round supply security based on solar energy and the extension of the life span of the batteries required for hydrogen-based power stores. The systems based purely on batteries can not provide perfect supply security during long periods of low solar radiation since they do not possess energy stores which allow long-term energy storage.Hence a seasonal energy store, such as hydrogen, is required to guarantee reliable power supply for every day of the year.Autonomous power supply systems with long-term energy stores operate independently from the public grid system and can be implemented without elaborate intelligent energy management. For this, however, the costs of the serial components must be reduced and the efficiency of the system must be improved.     

Cost of oil-based decentralized power generation in India: Scope for SPV technology

In India growth of oil-based decentralized (backup and non-backup) power-generating systems is an outcome of the increasing demand for power with security in supply from consumers. Given the projections on demand for and supply of power through the centralized grid, growth of these systems is bound to be on the rise. The present study, based on primary data collected from a field survey, builds up a database for this decentralized power-generating sector to assess its role in the context of the Indian economy. Cost calculations and on-the-spot measurements of sound pollution and a standard estimate of air pollution from conventional oil-based power generators bring out clearly the problems of the existing systems. It has been shown that if pollution abatement costs and the scarcity value of diesel are included in cost calculation for widely used conventional diesel-based decentralized systems, along with standard accounting costs, then solar photovoltaic (SPV) technologies may be an ideal alternative to conventional oil-based systems in the decentralized power-generating sector. However, to encourage existing private entrepreneurs to go for this new technology, government intervention is necessary in a number of ways.     

Remote area power supply system technologies in Western Australia: New developments in 30 years of slow progress

The escalation of the renewable energy capacity growth rate in remote pastoral Western Australian (WA) off-grid stand-alone power supply (SPS) systems over the last decade was extraordinary. The expansion was encouraged by subsidised renewable energy technologies, enabling components and system installation costs. This research quantifies and explores the changes over time of rated outputs of renewable and conventional energy components, and energy demand in SPS systems in pastoral WA over the last 30 years. This research revealed parallel increases in conventional generation unit output ratings, renewable energy capacity, and energy demand over the past decade. Whilst recent developments are encouraging, there remain many technical, social, economic and regulatory barriers to overcome the small-scale renewable energy SPS system industry in WA. A lack of mandatory standards has resulted in a minority of poor SPS systems and some aggravated owners in regions where reliability and reputation are paramount. After investing many tens of thousands of Australian dollars (AUD) on new capital equipment, minor system integration issues are becoming a frustratingly common cause of system failure for remote SPS system owners.     

Second law analysis of the 160 Wp standalone solar photovoltaic system

The demand for solar photovoltaic (SPV) systems is growing all over the world due to the continuous increase in the cost of conventional means of power. India has the advantage of around 300 clear sunny days in a year. However, the biggest problem is conversion efficiency. In this paper, an attempt has been made for evaluating the second law efficiency of 160?Wp stand-alone SPV systems installed in RKGIT Ghaziabad premises. The performance of a SPV system depends on climate conditions like temperature, air velocity and a number of sunny days. The solar energy striking the solar panels gets converted into electric and thermal energy. In this work, we have considered the effect of ambient temperature and air velocity on the efficiency of solar panels. The average second law efficiency of SPV systems was found to be 10.7%, whereas maximum second law efficiency was 13.8% at 9am on the same day. The efficiency of the SPV system can be improved by maintaining the temperature of the module.     

Regional energy system optimization – Potential for a regional heat market

Energy supply companies and industrial plants are likely to face new situations due to, for example, the introduction of new energy legislation, increased fuel prices and increased environmental awareness. These new prerequisites provide companies with new challenges but also new possibilities from which to benefit. Increased energy efficiency within companies and increased cooperation between different operators are two alternatives to meet the new conditions. A region characterized by a high density of energy-intensive processes is used in this study to find the economic potential of connecting three industrial plants and four energy companies, within three local district heating systems, to a regional heat market, in which different operators provide heat to a joint district heating grid. Also, different investment alternatives are studied. The results show that the economical potential for a heat market amounts to between 5 and 26 million EUR/year with payback times ranging from two to eleven years. However, the investment costs and the net benefit for the total system need to be allotted to the different operators, as they benefit economically to different extents from the introduction of a heat market. It is also shown that the emissions of CO₂ from the joint system would decrease compared to separate operation of the systems. However, the valuation of CO₂ emissions from electricity production is important as the difference of emitted CO₂ between the accounting methods exceeds 650 kton/year for some scenarios.     

Analysis of photovoltaic mini‐grid systems for remote locations: A techno‐economic approach

This paper presents a techno‐economic analysis of photovoltaic mini‐grid systems (PMs), using a group of remote houses in 3 locations in Nigeria, as case studies. It uses a worst‐case users' load demand approach for the design and analysis of the proposed energy system, according to international technical standards. It presents detailed capacity, yield and losses, battery state of charge (SoC), reliability, users' load demand increase (Ldi), and life cycle economic analyses by using the Hybrid Optimisation for Electric Renewables (HOMER) simulation tool. The effect of 25% Ldi is also considered in the paper. The study can be used to develop a practical energy model to address the poor energy situation in those locations when they are implemented. Results indicate that PMs of 68, 76, and 61 kW can meet the users' demand of ~63 500 kWh/year with an availability of 99.2% for the locations, respectively. By including a 30‐kVA diesel generator to the PMs' model, an availability of 100% was obtained, demonstrating that the issue of loss of energy supply for several days in the year due to users' Ldi and the cloudy days is being addressed. The results further show that although the hybrid energy systems have relatively higher initial capital, total life cycle and replacement costs, and the cost of energy, they achieve a higher reliability compared with the proposed PMs. The research can be useful for planning solar PV infrastructure for remote locations around the world.     

Constructing low emitting power systems through grid extension in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with rural electrification

The effective rural electrification method varies with economic status and geographical location, and the benefits of decentralized generation differ for each energy system depending on its characteristics. This paper evaluates the most effective generation strategies with rural electrification in an optimized power system of Papua New Guinea (PNG) using a linear programming model. The energy system model developed for the study includes decentralized generation, centralized generation, and grid systems of electricity and gas with consideration for the current energy system and infrastructure. Two methods of rural electrification, decentralized generation and grid extension, are compared with and without the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The results of simulations show that extending the power grid that allows economical generation such as coal-fired power and hydropower to supply rural electricity is a more cost effective way for rural electrification. Although grid extension is more capital intensive than decentralized generation, the former reduces the total system cost through reduction of the fossil fuel use. Extending the power grid is also effective at attracting CDM investments, since it makes the power system flexible and provides opportunities to advance low emitting energy such as hydropower.     

Autonomous WPP/HPP power system operating modes study

Today, there are centralized and decentralized energy supply areas world-wide. Centralized energy supply is provided by united energy grids which cover most habitable areas; they incorporate several types of power sources with centralized control system. Decentralized energy supply areas cover territories disconnected from power grid, and they incorporate only one type of power source.Autonomous diesel power plants (DPP) are nowadays used mainly to power decentralized consumers and consumer groups. DPP basic disadvantages are power production high cost, diesel fuel nonregenerability, greenhouse gas emission and environmental pollution. The possibility of power supply by autonomous power systems combining wind power plants (WPP) and hydro power plants (HPP) as alternative to diesel generation due to hydraulic energy storage advantages has been considered.Autonomous WPP/HPP power system is a combination of WPP, HPP with water-storage reservoir, automatic control system and switchgear, combined by power, infrastructural and data connections. Hydrogen energy storage is considered to be the second energy storage.HPP water-storage reservoir parametrization procedure considering operating specificity of HPP and WPP as a part of power system with hydraulic and hydrogen energy storage has been suggested. Mathematical models for operating modes of WPP, HPP and storage reservoir have been developed, which consider resources, technical and technological features of their performance in decentralized power supply system. Technique for determining storage reservoir backup volume with allowance for wind conditions parameters, WPP features and storage reservoir configuration have been suggested. Method of day-ahead WPP power calculation in solving problem of operational planning of power system operating modes has been suggested. Simulation of WPP/HPP power system operating modes with seasonal-storage reservoir and hydrogen energy storage have been carried out.The suggested techniques could be used for solving design problems to substantiate decentralized power supply system parameters in remote and isolated areas, as well as for evaluating energy efficiency of replacing the existent decentralized power supply systems on the basis of DPP using imported diesel fuel by environmentally safe systems on the basis of local energy resource – wind energy and hydraulic energy. The suggested techniques are also focused on solving problem of power system operating modes for operational planning.     

Distributed photovoltaic generation and energy storage systems: A review

Currently, in the field of operation and planning of electrical power systems, a new challenge is growing which includes with the increase in the level of distributed generation from new energy sources, especially renewable sources. The question of load redistribution for better energetic usage is of vital importance since these new renewable energy sources are often intermittent. Therefore, new systems must be proposed which ally energy storage with renewable energy generators for reestablishment of grid reliability. This work presents a review of energy storage and redistribution associated with photovoltaic energy, proposing a distributed micro-generation complex connected to the electrical power grid using energy storage systems, with an emphasis placed on the use of NaS batteries. These systems aim to improve the load factor, considering supply side management, and the offer of backup energy, in the case of demand side management.