Abstract
In recent years, several factors such as environmental pollution, declining fossil fuel supplies, and product price volatility have led to most countries investing in renewable energy sources. In particular, the development of photovoltaic (PV) microgrids, which can be standalone, off-grid connected or grid-connected, is seen as one of the most viable solutions that could help developing countries such as Rwanda to minimize problems related to energy shortage. The country’s current electrification rate is estimated to be 59.7%, and hydropower remains Rwanda’s primary source of energy (with over 43.8% of its total energy supplies) despite advances in solar technology. In order to provide affordable electricity to low-income households, the government of Rwanda has pledged to achieve 48% of its overal electrification goals from off-grid solar systems by 2024. In this paper, we develop a cost-effective power generation model for a solar PV system to power households in rural areas in Rwanda at a reduced cost. A performance comparison between a single household and a microgrid PV system is conducted by developing efficient and low-cost off-grid PV systems. The battery model for these two systems is 1.6 kWh daily load with 0.30 kW peak load for a single household and 193.05 kWh/day with 20.64 kW peak load for an off-grid PV microgrid. The hybrid optimization model for electric renewable (HOMER) software is used to determine the system size and its life cycle cost including the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and net present cost (NPC) for each of these power generation models. The analysis shows that the optimal system’s NPC, LCOE, electricity production, and operating cost are estimated to 1,166,898.0 USD, 1.28 (USD/kWh), 221, and 715.0 (kWh per year, 37,965.91 (USD per year), respectively, for microgrid and 9284.4(USD), 1.23 (USD/kWh), and 2426.0 (kWh per year, 428.08 (USD per year), respectively, for a single household (standalone). The LCOE of a standalone PV system of an independent household was found to be cost-effective compared with a microgrid PV system that supplies electricity to a rural community in Rwanda.
Highlights
Small electricity systems that can run independently, known as off-grid microgrids, could play a pivotal role in the development of electricity systems based on decentralized renewable energy (RE) technologies
Off-grid users are people who live off the grid, and those systems can be categorized as standalone power systems, minigrids, and microgrids, which should typically provide energy to a smaller community
The standalone and microgrid systems simulated in this paper have provided best results; due to financial instability of most of the Sub-Saharan countries, a standalone PV system proves to be more viable to those scattered households
Summary
Small electricity systems that can run independently, known as off-grid microgrids, could play a pivotal role in the development of electricity systems based on decentralized renewable energy (RE) technologies These networks are more cost-effective than stretching transmission lines to rural places [1, 2], thereby providing the possibility to produce sufficient electricity in countries where the national demand surpasses the regular production. [6], the term “off-grid” refers to a system and way of life that allows people to function without the assistance of remote infrastructure, including an electrical grid It is a method of gaining access to electricity that is used in countries and areas where there is limited access to electricity due to a dispersed or remote population. A sample size of 121 residential houses was chosen
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