A prepaid architecture for solar electricity delivery in rural areas

Soto, Daniel; Adkins, Edwin; Basinger, Matt; Menon, Rajesh; Rodriguez-Sanchez, Sebastian; Owczarek, Natasha; Willig, Ivan; Modi, Vijay

doi:10.1145/2160673.2160691

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The DC distribution lines [17] will be connected to each household via a DC-DC converter integrated into the PMU that provides the power for all household appliances. PMUs also integrate scalable distributed storage that is owned by the individual households.…”

Section: Household Power Management Units (Pmus)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the steep decline in cost of solar photovoltaic panels provides a viable renewable, distributed alternative to grid-generated electricity. Based on the usage data from recent field studies to establish solar PV-powered microgrids [16], there is a strong body of evidence to suggest that a fully DC solar-PV-powered system with distributed storage at every household will increase the e ciency, and reduce the costs of providing sustainable, and reliable electricity to rural emerging regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A scalable dc microgrid architecture for rural electrification in emerging regions

Madduri

Poon

Rosa

et al. 2015

2015 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC)

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This dissertation discusses the design and validation of a community-scale DC microgrid architecture that can integrate renewable generation sources by using a distributed control scheme implemented on the microgrid-connected households to mitigate resource variability. The presented system is designed to address the technical and economic challenges of electrifying emerging regions. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is expected to be less than $0.40 per kW-hr over a 15 year horizon. Solar panel costs have steadily declined to make them a very a ordable option for distributed generation. However, battery costs have not declined at the same rate. The important figure of merit for microgrids is the e ciency of stored electricity. The architecture presented in this work is shown to minimize losses in stored electricity. Another key feature of the system is the ability to prioritize loads by controlling the power flow of the system.There are three key components of the presented DC microgrid architecture: source converters, fanout nodes, and household power management units (PMUs). The functionality of each of these components and the rationale for their design choices is presented in detail. The PMUs implement a distributed loadline control scheme to mitigate variability in available grid power. The design of the distributed control scheme of the DC microgrid is discussed in detail. The relevance of Lyapunov based analysis towards the large signal stability of grid voltage is also discussed.The first-generation system uses a phase shifted full-bridge converter topology in the PMUs to convert from 380-to-12V in a single stage. Analytical analysis of this topology shows large signal and small signal stability. Transient response of the grid voltages and currents is shown through simulations. Experimental results are presented that showcase the operation and e ciency of system hardware.The second-generation system incorporates a two-stage conversion architecture. The first stage is a 380-to-48V fixed ratio bus converter, which is used to generate a 48V bus for a local cluster of connected households. In the second stage, PMUs utilize a buck converter topology to step down from 48V-to-12V in each household. In addition to 2 simulation and experimental validation of the hardware, a cost analysis is also presented to determine LCOE of system. The second-generation architecture achieves higher e ciency and reduced cost in comparison to the first-generation.Lastly, grounding and protection of the microgrid is discussed in detail. Relevant examples from existing distribution schemes are presented and the rationale behind existing schemes are explored. A grounding and protection scheme that is suited to this dissertation's DC microgrid is presented. The protection scheme is validated throgh relevant simulations and experiments.This work presents a grid topology that is designed to adapt to a changing landscape of solar PV prices and meets the challenge of providing a scalable and low-cost electrification solution. Fut...

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Section: Household Power Management Units (Pmus)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A scalable dc microgrid architecture for rural electrification in emerging regions

Madduri

Poon

Rosa

et al. 2015

2015 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC)

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“…The system billed VoIP services using A2Billing on SWITZERNET T M -a network that allows calls to anywhere in the world at low cost [11]. Some aspects of these systems informed the design of the billing system presented in this paper: the voucher system of Soto et al [23] and the billing mechanisms (post-paid system of Gaba [11] and the printed bill of Sen et al [21]) reported were used in discussions with the users (see Section 4.1).…”

Section: Billing Systems Related To the Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-designing a Billing System for Voice Services in RuralSouth Africa

Rey-Moreno

Ufitamahoro

Venter

et al. 2014

Proceedings of the Fifth ACM Symposium on Computing for Development

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Access to information and communication technologies remains unaffordable for many in rural areas despite recent progress in providing voice services to remote communities. The sustainability of alternative technical solutions is a challenge, which can be addressed when local knowledge is taken into account during the design process. This research reflects on the process of co-designing a billing system for voice services provided by a Community Network in rural South Africa. Several payment methods were explored with users and operators of the Community Network, focusing on the legal, financial, technical and social feasibility -as well as constraints -of each method. Those methods that suited the community's needs were implemented and tested with stakeholders. The process revealed factors embedded in the provision of voice services by traditional voice operators in South Africa that prevent economically poor and illiterate users from fully benefiting from voice services. Solutions to these factors were explored with users and were implemented as a billing system. The system is currently being deployed in a rural South African community. Both the problems experienced and solutions proposed may inform similar initiatives.

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“…SharedSolar, a project from the Modi Research Group at Columbia University, offers another take on prepaid metering coupled with centralized monitoring and control (SharedSolar 2012, Soto et al 2012. A distinct innovation is the elimination of individual household meters in this system, relying instead on larger centrally-located meters that monitor and limit up to ten households individually and communicate with the central system.…”

Section: Sharedsolarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Strategies and Technologies for Demand-Side Management on Isolated Mini-Grids

Harper

2013

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Schatz Energy Research Center is a research lab affiliated with Humboldt State University SERC's energy activities fall broadly in the categories of hydrogen and fuel cells, bioenergy, energy for the developing world, policy and analysis. SERC conducts research and analysis; designs, builds, operates, and demonstrates clean and renewable energy technologies; provides training for students in these technologies; and educates the public about the advantages of clean and renewable energy technologies.

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A prepaid architecture for solar electricity delivery in rural areas

Cited by 24 publications

References 9 publications

A scalable dc microgrid architecture for rural electrification in emerging regions

A scalable dc microgrid architecture for rural electrification in emerging regions

Co-designing a Billing System for Voice Services in RuralSouth Africa

Review of Strategies and Technologies for Demand-Side Management on Isolated Mini-Grids

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