Electricity In Remote Areas Research Articles

Assessing the annual power reliability of a residential building in relation to its ventilation system type: The case study of the off-grid container house in Shanghai.

In developing countries, electrification of rural and remote areas is an essential need for improving socio-economic conditions. However, increased access to adequate electricity and upgraded facilities may double or even triple present greenhouse gas emissions related to residential buildings operation. From both socio-economic and environmental perspective, implementation of solar-powered houses is widely considered as a sustainable. Power reliability is a key indicator used in assessing the annual performance of the off-grid housing operation. The primary objective of this article is to ascertain the impact of three main ventilation system types: natural (NV), mechanical with heat recovery (MV) and hybrid (HV) on annual power reliability of the case, off-grid building located in Shanghai. Firstly, three scenarios of hourly electricity loads profiles were calculated from an annual simulation via building performance software (BPS). Secondly, electrical load profiles were integrated into a developed model of alternating current (AC) coupled battery off-grid energy system model. The results indicate that the HV system provided the lowest annual electricity consumption (2847 kWh) and the best annual power reliability (98.6%) when compared to MV (2935kWh, 98.5%) and NV (2901kWh, 98.0%). The article discusses correlation between building ventilation scenarios, electrical loads and resultant annual power reliability. In conclusion economic viability of mechanical/hybrid ventilation implementation in off-grid housing is called into question.

Hybrid Standalone System for Rural Electrification

Renewable energy finds major application in electrification of remote areas where the access to electrical energy from grid is not possible.Renewable energy resources also act as the most important source for electrical energy production to overcome the energy crisis due to lapse of conventional sources and expected to meet the large demand in power all over the world especially in developing country like India. Among the renewable resources, wind & solar are the most popular ones because of their abundance, ease of accessibility and which can be easily converted to the electricity. This paper presents the design and analysis of a hybrid solar-wind system for domestic purpose in the remote areas of the country where continuous power supply from central grid is a problem

Consumers’ intention-based influence factors of renewable power generation technology utilization: A structural equation modeling approach

Abstract Since the implementation of renewable power generation technologies (RPTs) is a multifaceted and complex procedure influenced by a diverse range of factors, it induces ever evolving traction of researchers to investigate those influence factors. The aim of this research is to investigate the factors affecting consumers' intention to utilize RPTs for domestic use in Pakistan. In order to have a better understanding of the behavioral construct of consumers to adopt or prohibit the RPTs, the current study has contributed through augmenting the structure of planned behavior theory by introducing a vital influence factor of lack of access to electricity in remote areas. The findings of the current study are derived from the calculations conducted on primary data compiled from 230 Pakistani households in provincial capitals including Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, and Peshawar, and the federal capital Islamabad through conducting a comprehensive survey. The propositions are examined employing the state of art technique called structural equation modeling (SEM). The statistical findings revealed that, on the one hand, the influence factors including subjective norms, attitudinal construct, relative advantage, perceived behavioral control, and lack of access to electricity imparted positive influence on consumers' intention to utilize RPTs in Pakistan. On the other hand, the cost is found to induce prohibition impact on consumers' intention to utilize RPTs. Notably, the moral norms, environmental concern, environmental knowledge, and awareness are revealed to impart neutral influence on consumers’ intention to utilize RPTs. Based on the empirical findings, vital and useful policy guidelines are suggested in this study.

Replacing Flat Rate Feed-In Tariffs for Rooftop Photovoltaic Systems With a Dynamic One to Consider Technical, Environmental, Social, and Geographical Factors

A flat rate feed-in tariff (FiT) is a traditional incentive offered by many utilities around the world to encourage their customers to invest in electricity generation from renewable sources such as rooftop photovoltaic systems (RPVs). It is designed by financial techniques that mostly consider the initial capital cost and electricity spot price. However, such an incentive cannot help the utilities to address the technical challenges in networks with large renewable penetration. In this paper, a dynamic FiT is designed based on the value of electricity, hosting capacity, ambient temperature, and time of day (ToD). The developed method uses fuzzy logic to convert these parameters into a time-varying FiT. This FiT will specifically support utilities that experience challenges in the electrification of remote areas or observe excessive stress on their networks at demand peak periods. The proposed FiT encourages the rural customers to install RPVs while discouraging the urban customers from installing RPVs without battery storages. The performance of the developed FiT is validated numerically and its capability is evaluated by analyzing the annual revenue, net present value, and payback periods.

Energy management system for PV-battery microgrid based on model predictive control

<p>There had been increase of the usage of renewable energy sources to supply electricity in remote areas. However, microgrid consists of renewable sources such as solar Photovoltaic (PV) poses challenges for a reliable energy supply due to its intermittent nature. This paper presents a microgrid model with Energy Management System based on Model Predictive Control (MPC). The microgrid comprises of PV, and battery storage system. The goal of the EMS is to deliver a reliable and optimal generation from multiple sources in the microgrid. Moreover, the MPC will also provide controls for the battery charging for a smooth PV output. The model simulated based on actual load profile and renewable resource such as solar radiation. Several disturbances such as variation of load, generation and PV shading has been simulated to measure the performance of the EMS. The results illustrate the system ability to exhibits robust performance in variety of conditions.</p>

PERFORMANCE OF BATTERY BANK ON HYBRID MICROGRID

A hybrid microgrid is composed of combination of the AC and DC grid which are interlined with bidirectional converter. To avoid the multiple conversion and more reliable the proposed hybrid microgrid is designed by taking diesel generators, Photovoltaic cell, induction generators and battery bank. It is connected to the utility grid in normal operating mode. During fault condition, it should disconnect and shift into island operation mode. This paper proposes a standalone hybrid generation system, fed by induction generator which is run with a battery banks, solar power, and storage battery. Hybrid microgrid is an excellent solution for electrification of remote rural areas where the grid extension is very difficult and not economical. Practically it has been seen that most of the isolated grid is powered by the diesel generation system, such systems has several problems like high cost fuel with extra transportation cost and making more pollution to the environment .To make pollution free environment ,an eco-friendly hybrid microgrid system has designed. It maintains the power quality in steady state condition. During this transient condition, the voltage and frequency of the microgrid may change rapidly due to low inertia present in microgrid. Therefore, local voltage and frequency control is one of the major challenges in islanded condition. To achieve this particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is implemented in the proposed microgrid which is verified by MATLAB Simulink.

Performance enhancement of a photovoltaic panel with reflectors and cooling coupled to a solar still with air injection

The present study aims to overcome the problems of freshwater and electricity in remote areas. To achieve this, a hybrid system of photovoltaic (PV) panel with reflectors and cooling coupled developed solar still with air injection was experimentally investigated. This study aims to improve the PV panel performance using reflectors with cooling. The cooling was used to reduce the PV surface temperature. On the other hand, reflectors are used to reduce reflection loss and increase the rate of solar radiation absorbed by PV panels. To obtain the best cooling technique of the PV panel with reflectors, the five operating cases was studied, namely case-A (conventional PV panel), case-B (PV with reflectors), case-C (PV with reflectors and air cooling technique), case-D (PV with reflectors and water cooling technique), and case-E (PV with reflectors, water and air cooling techniques). The cooling air out from the PV module for the two cases C and E were injected inside the developed solar still to increase the evaporation rate within the solar still, thereby improving the freshwater productivity. The results show that the improvement in the electrical power of the PV panel was recorded 16.81, 21.62, 35.13, and 39.69% for cases B, C, D, and E, respectively compared to case-A. Also, using the air injection system improved the freshwater production by 40.98% and 21.96% for cases C and E, respectively compared to the case without air injection system. The average overall efficiency of the hybrid system was recorded 21.2, 22.1, 30.55, 22.95, and 27.15% for cases A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. Moreover, the economic analysis presented that the estimated cost of kWh and fresh water production vary between 0.076 and 0.083 $/kWh and 0.01–0.014 $/L, respectively.

Techno‐economic feasibility analysis of stand‐alone hybrid wind/photovoltaic/diesel/battery system for the electrification of remote rural areas: Case study Persian Gulf Coast‐Iran

In this study, a techno‐economic feasibility study of off‐grid hybrid power systems is performed for a rural area, which is located at a significant distance from the grid connection in Bushehr province of Iran, beside the Persian Gulf. HOMER simulation software is used to determine the economic feasibility of the systems. The simulations were focused on net present cost which includes cost of energy (COE) and renewable fraction of the hybrid configurations. The results indicate that the wind/PV/diesel/battery hybrid renewable system configuration is the optimum system, primarily based on COE and achieving a 61.4% renewable energy fraction. The proposed hybrid power system not only exhibits better performance in fuel consumption but also reduces carbon dioxide emissions. It could mitigate the emission of 664 tons of greenhouse gases to the local atmosphere of the village, as well as other air pollution emissions, which could offer substantial benefit to both residence and environment. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis shows that a rise in fuel prices will derive more demand for alternative energy sources. For instance, when the fuel price is more than $0.5/L, the optimal energy option would be the wind/PV/battery system. In that case, it is no longer economical to use the diesel generator and renewable energy penetration becomes 100%. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13146, 2019

Minimum power of solar Panel Movement in Solar Tracker System Prototype

Population increase and economic growth lead to increased demand for world energy. With conventional energy supplies today means there is an increase in the use of fossil energy supplies and increased emissions from gases that can endanger the environment. some renewable sources are available which can be used on a large scale to generate electricity in remote areas where electricity is available. Included in this type include sunlight, geothermal wind, water, and so on. The amount of solar energy potential that can be absorbed depends on the area of the solar cell and the absorption capacity of sunlight. Absorption capacity can be optimized by making a control system for the solar cell’s drive that will be flushed in the direction of the sun’s motion so that the solar panel cells will absorb sunlight. Researchers focus on how the minimum motor power consumption, obtained from the results of the study occurred at 17:00 at an angle of 690 weight 8 kg voltage of 8.12 current 0.11.

Optimization potential analysis of micro-hydro power plant (MHPP) from river with low head

Indonesia has a lot of civilization without electricity in remote areas. In order to fulfill the high demand of electricity, low cost and environmentally friendly power plants are required to reach remote areas. Micro-hydro power plants are proposed as a solution that could penetrate the limited accessibility for transport, technology, and cost. This paper covers a case study of optimization potential analysis of micro-hydro power plant (MHPP) in Subang. This study analyze the current technical specification of the MHPP in Subang in order to optimize the operation to reach the attached generator capacity with the condition of low head and low discharge of the river. Analysis of the existing MHPP proposes a redesign focused on the penstock pipe and turbine. According to the calculations, penstock pipe design has the minimum required diameter of 0.7 m in order to withstand the debit of 1.1 m3/s. Besides, in order to optimize the cross flow turbine performance with the debit of 1.1 m3/s, the existing turbine’s radius should be redesigned to 0.71 m, with the existing turbine’s blade length should be redesigned to 0.248 m. All of the redesigns proposed could increase the potential power generation up to 200% from the current condition.

Optimal Multi-criteria Selection of Hybrid Energy Systems for Off-grid Electrification

Energy poverty or lack of access to electricity is still a pressing development challenge worldwide particularly in archipelagic countries like the Philippines and Indonesia. As rural electrification in these remote areas through on-grid extension becomes costly, these communities typically resort to diesel-powered off-grid generators, characterized by high operating costs, unstable supply and price of fuel, and environmental issues. The deployment of clean energy alternatives is clearly needed, but these must be selected systematically using multiple but possibly conflicting criteria. Currently, the decision on which technology to use is derived based on the levelized cost of electricity primarily. In this illustrative case study, a novel multi-criteria decision-making methodology is proposed for the selection of the most appropriate energy system for the off-grid electrification of Marinduque Island. Eight technology combination options were evaluated using six criteria covering socio-economic, environmental, and technical aspects. Fuzzy AHP was used to derive weights of the criteria while addressing ambiguity and subjectivity of decision-makers. Performances of the technology options across different criteria were determined quantitatively via techno-economic simulations, or qualitatively via domain expert estimates. Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) was then used to aggregate the entire range of performance attributes of each alternative into a single score. Results indicate that system reliability and social acceptability are the most important criteria in selecting hybrid energy systems for off-grid electrification. Among the eight alternatives, the fuel saver (diesel-solar PV hybrid) and diesel-solar PV-Li-ion hybrid systems yield the highest performance scores. The prioritization was mainly affected by system reliability and social acceptability, indicating that decision making for the attainment of sustainable island energy supply should not be limited to technical and economic considerations only. This is consistent with the current worldwide trend of implementing the diesel-solar PV-Li-ion hybrid systems in off-grid areas, thus, validating the applicability of the facile methodology developed in this work.

The Assessment of Off-Grid Photovoltaic (PV) Systems for Rural Electrification in Indonesia

There are many rural areas in Indonesia without electricity, especially in remote islands which are challenging to access. The limited access to electricity inhibits people in rural areas to increase their welfare and quality of life. Identifying the urge for electricity access in remote areas and for increasing the utilization of renewable energy resources in Indonesia, the off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems can be the solution. The paper aims to assess the off-grid PV systems for rural electrification in Indonesia. The Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is conducted to assess the cost-effectiveness of the off-grid PV systems compared to other rural electrification solutions in Indonesia, such as diesel and micro-hydro. It results that LCOE of the PV battery has the highest LCOE with 0.30 US$/kWh. Another off-grid PV configuration: PV battery diesel (hybrid system) has LCOE ranging from 0.19 to 0.22 US$/kWh. This hybrid system can compete with the LCOE of diesel generator (0.17 – 0.24 US$/kWh). The range of LCOE reflects the variation of retail diesel prices in remote areas. The micro-hydro power plant has the lowest LCOE, 0.16 US$/kWh. However, this solution is only reliable in the areas that have stable water flow rate with different elevation. In this case, the off-grid PV systems are more reliable to generate electricity in remote areas because the average daily solar irradiation is 4.8 kWh/m2/day across Indonesia. Additionally, the trend of cost reduction in PV systems and the improvement in PV technologies can be game-changing that make off-grid PV systems more competitive compared to other solutions. Then, the paper analyses the fundamental issues regarding the off-grid PV systems application and it also recommends the policies that can be taken by the Government of Indonesia and the local government to provide sustainable rural electrification based on the off-grid PV systems.

Economic analysis of biomass gasification for generating electricity in rural areas in Indonesia

The gaseous fuel from biomass gasification might reduce the consumption of diesel fuel by 70%. The investment cost of the whole unit with a capacity of 45 kWe was about IDR 220 million in 2008 comprised of 24% for gasification unit, 54% for diesel engine and electric generator, 22% for transportation of the whole unit from Bandung to the site in South Borneo. The gasification unit was made in local workshop in Bandung, while the diesel-generator was purchased also in a local market. To anticipate the development of biomass based electricity in remote areas, an economic analysis has been made for implementations in 2019. A specific investment cost of 600 USD/kW has been estimated taking account to the escalation and capacity factors. Using a discounted factor of 11% and biomass cost in the range of 0.03-0.07 USD/kg, the production cost of electricity would be in the range of 0.09-0.16 USD/kWh. This production cost was lower than that of diesel engine fueled with full oil commonly implemented in many remote areas in Indonesia at this moment. This production cost was also lower than the Feed in Tariff in some regions established by Indonesian government in 2017.

Designing and Modeling of Automated Anti-theft Electricity Distribution System

In this modern era electricity is the major component of human life. Its play a vital role to facilitate the human life by operating all modern electrical equipment. The consumption of electricity increases rapidly due to its uses in the domestic and industrial sector. In the distribution of electricity, there are few emerging issues leads to huge losses. The illegal connection of electricity in remote areas increases rapidly. Such theft of electricity from distribution line leads to huge losses in revenue of electricity. Pakistan facing huge energy crisis due to a shortage of electricity generation. This research project modeled and the designed the hardware prototype of automated anti-theft electricity distribution system. The proposed system detects the illegal load and burns it by sending high voltage signal from capacitor bank. The legal load is made safe and uninterrupted during execution of illegal load.

Designing and Optimization of Stand-alone Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Rural Areas of Punjab, Pakistan

Increasing energy demand accompanied by diminishing of natural resources is the prime reason behind the growing popularity of renewable energy resources. Hence to develop a power system model for sustainable and efficient power deliverance is inevitable. To serve the purpose, we proposed in this paper a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) that consists of run-off canal micro hydro/PV/wind integrated with a diesel generator. Main purpose is the electrification of remote areas of province Punjab, Pakistan. The authors selected the BS link canal-I located at 300 52’ N and 730 55’ E in Punjab, Pakistan, for the proposed HRES. Beforehand, load and resource profile of selected site was evaluated to present an economically optimized model of the proposed energy system. Moreover, Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) was used as an optimization tool to perform techno-economic feasibility of the micro hydro/PV/wind energy system to entertain the evaluated load of the location. Mainly three strategies are employed due to scarcity of hydro resources and based on the availability of the energy resources. First strategy suggests to use diesel generator integrated with solar and wind power systems, HOMER declares this strategy most expensive with total Net Present Cost (NPC) of $ 670,121 and Cost of Energy (COE) of $ 0.0936/kWh. The recovery period of the hybrid energy system under this strategy is 13 years. The second strategy focuses on the water management strategy using 100 % renewable energy. NPC diminishes to $ 479,835 and the COE reduces to $ 0.0670/kWh. The system recovers all the incurred cost in 5.5 years. The last one enacts renewable energy systems with capacity shortage scheme. NPC and the COE reduces to $ 284,877 and $ 0.0437/kWh respectively from the previously discussed strategy. The system recovers all the incurred cost in 1.7 years. Based on the NPC, the COE and the minimum payback period, HOMER executes the optimization analysis on all the proposed strategies and found 1 st strategy to be the least feasible and 3 rd strategy the most feasible respectively.

Energy Production Analysis and Optimization of Mini-Grid in Remote Areas: The Case Study of Habaswein, Kenya

Rural electrification in remote areas of developing countries has several challenges which hinder energy access to the population. For instance, the extension of the national grid to provide electricity in these areas is largely not viable. The Kenyan Government has put a target to achieve universal energy access by the year 2020. To realize this objective, the focus of the program is being shifted to establishing off-grid power stations in rural areas. Among rural areas to be electrified is Habaswein, which is a settlement in Kenya’s northeastern region without connection to the national power grid, and where Kenya Power installed a stand-alone hybrid mini-grid. Based on field observations, power generation data analysis, evaluation of the potential energy resources and simulations, this research intends to evaluate the performance of the Habaswein mini-grid and optimize the existing hybrid generation system to enhance its reliability and reduce the operation costs. The result will be a suggestion of how Kenyan rural areas could be sustainably electrified by using renewable energy based off-grid power stations. It will contribute to bridge the current research gap in this area, and it will be a vital tool to researchers, implementers and the policy makers in energy sector.

DC grid for home applications

More than fifty percent Indian population do not have access to electricity in daily lives. The distance between the power generating stations and the distribution centers forms one of the main reasons for lack of electrification in rural and remote areas. Here lies the importance of decentralization of power generation through renewable energy resources. In the present world, electricity is predominantly powered by alternating current, but most day to day devices like LED lamps, computers and electrical vehicles, all run on DC power. By directly supplying DC to these loads, the number of power conversion stages was reduced, and overall system efficiency increases. Replacing existing AC network with DC is a humongous task, but with power electronic techniques, this project intends to implement DC grid at a household level in remote and rural areas. Proposed work was designed and simulated successfully for various loads amounting to 250 W through appropriate power electronic convertors. Maximum utilization of the renewable sources for domestic and commercial application was achieved with the proposed DC topology.

Powering The Archipelago: Accelerating Rural Electrification in Indonesia with Community-based Renewable Energy

Large portion of the population in Indonesia lack access to electrical power, and 85% of these portion live in rural areas. This lack of access to electrical power means also lack of access to people’s fundamental needs. In addition, local industry cannot flourish without universal access of electricity among the population. Therefore, increasing access of electricity regardless where the population live is crucial to distribute wealth throughout the archipelago. The lack of access to electrical power in remote areas is primarily due to sparse population all over the country and limited power infrastructure. Additionally, most are generated by centralized power plants and therefore making it difficult to be distributed evenly to the entire country due to its archipelagic nature. Consequently, diesel fuel is used to generate power in remote areas, raising the cost of generation of electricity significantly while hindering the local community to get equitable and reliable access of electricity. Our solution to this particular problem is to develop distributed power generation system where each small areas will be provided with their own electrical power generator. This distributed power generation system is not only powered by local renewable energy source but it will also enhance the economic activities in the area. Distributed power generation will also contribute to a more equitable, reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity in remote areas. By promoting distributed renewable energy in Indonesia, we believe that it will bring about the transition to the use of renewable energy source to generate electrical power in the entire country.

Standalone CSP-DG system for electrification of remote areas and desalinated water supply

The increasing demand for electricity is requiring a continuous expansion of the power grid. In many rural areas, however, the geographical location makes the connection to the grid extremely complicated and expensive. The electrification of these areas has been achieved in most cases through off grid systems based on diesel generators. The latter is a well-known and reliable technology which however presents some disadvantages, such as high maintenance and operational costs as well as difficulty in the fuel transport. Among renewables, solar energy instead has the major drawback of not being continuous because inevitably linked to the availability of irradiation unless to provide too much expensive storage.Hybrid systems combining fossil source and renewables may be a strategic choice able to combine the advantages and mitigate drawbacks of both technologies.The proposed match of diesel generator (DG) and concentrated solar energy systems (CSP) may allow to fulfill with high flexibility desalinated water needs as well as the daily and seasonal power demand of a remote village. The techno-economical analysis showed that the proposed architecture may be cheaper than one based on photovoltaic and competitive with a DG standalone system. From environmental point of view, the hybrid solution accounts for a consistent reduction of CO2 emissions.

Bifurcation-Based Stability Analysis of Photovoltaic-Battery Hybrid Power System

Photovoltaic-battery hybrid power system (PBHPS) is a good candidate for rural electrification in remote areas. In this system, multiple energy sources are combined together to power the user loads under various system structures. We identify and analyze the bifurcation process when the system enters unstable operation states. Then, a small signal stability criterion is derived for the system based on reasonable simplification of the bifurcation analysis. Furthermore, according to the nonlinear dynamics of the interconnected system with closed-loop control, a large-signal stability criterion is derived with mixed potential theory. The criterion that is straightforward with the dual-loop control can be considered and easily extended to multiple connected converter systems. The criterion is also coincident with the result of bifurcation analysis. Finally, the validity of proposed criteria is verified by simulation and experimental works in a practical PBHPS of 1 kW.