The energy requirements of developing countries underpin progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Rural electrification is acknowledged as key to providing a source of reliable, affordable and sustainable energy. Many planners and decision makers agree that the off-grid PV system has the potential to become a valued and straightforward source of electricity for remote rural communities. However, there are several challenges that need to be addressed to realize the potential of PV as a sustainable solution. These challenges are illustrated and highlighted by many reported cases of poor sustainability/longevity of PV installation in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper reviews the sustainability of off-grid renewable energy deployments in sub-Saharan Africa along with recent attempts to define sustainable energy frameworks. The specific case of off-grid PV systems for improved educational and health facilities are considered and a community based approach for improved sustainability is proposed. Case studies illustrating practical implementation of this approach in Gambia and Malawi are described
The Autonomous Regional Active Network Management System (AuRA-NMS) is a developmental distributed network management system that offers flexible, real-time restoration, voltage and thermal control solutions. The "plug and play" nature of this control platform requires the functionality to perform robustly on any distribution network regardless of topology or electrical characteristics. The techniques under evaluation should be generic solutions that can be applied to any network. Progress in the development of techniques for managing power flows in the presence of thermal constraints is discussed and the analysis of the initial results of the studies undertaken to date is presented in this paper. The control techniques presented and demonstrated in this paper are based on novel applications of two techniques to the problem of managing power flows within thermal constraints: constraint programming; and current tracing. Solution speed and generator access level are evaluated for the two methods and conclusions drawn about the applicability of the techniques.
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