rural electrification

Across Africa, rooftop solar is stepping in to fill the void as fears of non-payment and inflation-reduced donor funding dampen enthusiasm for big solar. Commercial and industrial (C&I) arrays are leading the charge, driving consolidation in markets overstocked with startup and mid-size installers.

Frank Haugwitz arrived in China in June 2002 as technical adviser to the solar-focused Sino-German Renewable Energies in Rural Areas Program. He has directly observed the nation’s rise to solar superpower status.

The novel methodology can be used for 71 countries located across ‘sun belt’ areas of east Asia, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. The model relies on 2014 and 2015 geo-referenced datasets in various formats and spatial resolutions, as well as on a population dataset based on global human settlements (GHSL) and World Bank national-level estimates of electrification.

Scientists in India have proposed a model to design an off-grid, hybrid energy system based on a combination of solar, wind, biomass, biogas and fuel cell, linked to storage, for electrifying a cluster of three village hamlets in the Indian state of Karnataka. The model is implemented through the HOMER software and a genetic algorithm.

Each unit contains 200 pre-assembled and pre-wired photovoltaic panels and can be deployed in 30 minutes.

A new Indian study shows that standalone PV systems combined with pumped storage could be a solution to energy poverty in developing nations. This easily deployable, chemical-free approach might be best in countries that lack battery-recycling rules, the researchers said.

The Senegalese government is aiming to increase access to solar power in rural areas by reducing VAT on PV panels, inverters, solar thermal collectors and other products in an effort to achieve universal electricity access in the country by 2025.

Equatorial Power and SustainSolar are installing containerized, off-grid solar battery power systems to support farming projects on an island in Lake Kivu.

With the country’s first procurement exercise for bigger projects, the Togolese government intends to develop solar parks with a combined generation capacity of up to 80 MW. The tender is being held under the umbrella of the World Bank’s Scaling Solar initiative.

Indonesia’s Central Bureau of Statistics reported in 2018 that 2,281 villages had no access to electricity. With more than 17,000 islands, building grid connections between them would be expensive. So what are the key challenges and solutions to the development of rural area electrification in Indonesia? pv magazine interviewed three experts that are involved in developing the country’s rural area electrification.