Design of decentralized energy systems for rural electrification in developing countries considering regional disparity

Review of micro- and small-scale technologies to produce electricity and heat from Mediterranean forests׳ wood chips

“…Distributed generation, in turn, has been labeled as a key tool to address the problems of security of supply, CO2 emissions and to improve the efficiency of energy systems [16], as well as to overcome the problem of rising electricity costs and shortages [14]. Distributed generation has social benefits in terms of encouragement of development in rural areas by providing electricity at those places where the grid transmission is not reliable [14,17] and by generating new income opportunities through revaluation of local resources [18]. Therefore, several public policies have been set up in many countries in order to increase the share of RESs to the electricity supply, including the goal of reaching 20% of electricity share in both the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) or the goal of 35% share in Asian countries such as China or India [19].…”

Optimization of a hybrid renewable system for high feasibility application in non-connected zones

“…Many previous studies on HRES are based on analyzing the specific energy needs of a geographical area and identifying the optimized energy solutions based on HRES configurations. [5] Studies carried out in rural communities demonstrate the benefits on installing HRES, as a means for reducing the dependency to fuel price fluctuations, overcoming the limitations in the electrical grid expansion of major networks, and enhancing the use of local resources, which don´t depend on external sources and promote the sustainability of the projects [3,6,7].…”

PV-Hybrid Off-Grid and Mini-Grid Systems for Rural Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Moreover, the use of batteries provides fast-access to electricity, no pre-installation work needed, independent from either site-specific or source available, suitable for loads used frequently [58]. Furthermore, biomass use for electrification reduces disparity in remote areas [30] [79]. Moreover, microgrids ease maintenance compared to SHSs [80].…”