Distributed Generation for Access to Electricity: “Off-Main-Grid” Systems from Home-Based to Microgrid

Mandelli, Stefano; Mereu, Riccardo

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-00284-2_4

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This results in limiting the ability to develop local economies and reducing their chances of improving living standards. On the one hand, new technological solutions for decentralized generation such as mini-grids are increasing their viability for last-mile electrification [3], providing high standards of service for densely populated rural areas [4]. The use of such solutions grew significantly between 2010 and 2019: the number of people with access to decentralized solutions, including solar home systems and mini-grids, more than tripled, rising from 12 million in 2010 to 39 million in 2019 [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling Financing Schemes for Energy System Planning: A Mini-Grid Case Study

Crevani

Soares

Colombo

2023

36th International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems (ECOS 20

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Energy modeling has been playing a crucial role in defining solutions for effective energy planning. Bottomup energy system planning models, namely those models characterized by high technological detail, typically present exogenous techno-economic parameters which rely on data gathered by the user, from specific costs to efficiencies. However, poor to no attention has been given to the date to the financial parameters of energy models, which are often assumed and barely justified (e.g., "discount rate equal to 10%", full stop). Still, model outputs are drastically sensitive to variations of finance-related parameters and must provide the financing structure that a decision-maker should implement for funding the advised energy planning strategies. This results particularly crucial for mini-grid sizing in sub-Saharan African countries, where the challenge of the energy transition entails the construction of massive new capacities to improve energy access rates and tiers of service, demanding an enhanced collaboration between private and public sectors. The case study, applied on an off-grid mini-grid in Mozambique, proposes a comparison between scenarios with increasing financial detail and a possible conceptualization of the hard link between detailed financial modelling and a bottom-up energy model for mini-grid optimization. Different financing schemes are modelled and their impact on the energy modelling outputs assessed. Project finance hence emerges as a useful approach that could upgrade the financing structure of domestic power projects in African countries. This may lead to many benefits: more sustainable and affordable interest rates where corporate finance is missing, improved risk management, diversified funding mix, and facilitated financial support from international institutions.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling Financing Schemes for Energy System Planning: A Mini-Grid Case Study

Crevani

Soares

Colombo

2023

36th International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems (ECOS 20

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Off-grid small-scale electricity generation represents one of the most appropriate options to face this issue, both as a first step in the electrification process or as a building-block for future grid development [12][13][14][15][16]. The forecasts drawn by the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that about 60% of the additional electricity generation requested to provide universal access to energy, is expected to be generated through off-grid systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Off-grid systems for rural electrification in developing countries: Definitions, classification and a comprehensive literature review

Mandelli

Barbieri

Mereu

et al. 2016

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Self Cite

318

169

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Off-grid PV installations are the key for a future distributed generation in Africa [17], which will allow autonomy of a household at a low infrastructure cost. The full autonomy depends on the energy storage, its efficient management and control being the key to ensure a long operation period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical and Economic Assessment of a 450 W Autonomous Photovoltaic System with Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Storage

Carriço¹,

Fernandes

et al. 2017

J. sustain. dev. energy water environ. syst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper presents a study about an autonomous photovoltaic system making use of the novel Lithium Iron Phosphate as a battery pack for isolated rural houses. More particularly, this paper examines the behavior and efficiency of a low-cost isolated photovoltaic system for typical rural houses near Luena in Angola. The proposed system (solar panel, batteries, controller, and inverter) has been projected having in mind the required household daily load of 1,300 Wh and available solar irradiance. The initial batteries charging revealed to be essential to not only ensure a long battery life but using a balanced pack it was possible to achieve more stored energy. On-site, the polycrystalline solar panels used showed a daily average efficiency of 10.8%, with the total system having 75% efficiency. This result was adjusted to the average temperature in Angola. This way, it was made an extrapolation to the monthly irradiation values in Angola. The results achieved showed good energy production during almost all year except January and December, which revealed critical production values of 1,356 Wh and 1,311 Wh, respectively. These values are too close to the daily consumed energy and indicate the addition of a 2 nd alternative source of energy (wind generator, diesel generator, etc.) to be explored further. KEYWORDSAngola, Autonomous/Off-grid photovoltaic system, System efficiency, Lithium iron phosphate battery.

show abstract

Distributed Generation for Access to Electricity: “Off-Main-Grid” Systems from Home-Based to Microgrid

Cited by 12 publications

References 58 publications

Modelling Financing Schemes for Energy System Planning: A Mini-Grid Case Study

Modelling Financing Schemes for Energy System Planning: A Mini-Grid Case Study

Off-grid systems for rural electrification in developing countries: Definitions, classification and a comprehensive literature review

Technical and Economic Assessment of a 450 W Autonomous Photovoltaic System with Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Storage

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About