PV electrification in India and China: the NREL's experience in international cooperation

Abstract

The US Department of Energy (DOE) through its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has initiated rural development projects in India and China to demonstrate the viability of photovoltaics in meeting the needs of the rural masses for cost-eective and reliable electricity. This paper contains details of the major projects in the two countries, along with descriptions of the implemented photovoltaic systems and lessons learned to date. The successful outcome of these projects will allow duplication of the experiences in other developing areas of the world. # 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. INTRODUCTIONE conomic development throughout the developing world has created a need for electricity in both the urban and rural areas. Some two billion people 1 are currently without any or adequate electricity to realize an improvement in their quality of life. Most of these people have little or no access to an electrical grid, therefore distributed sources of electrical power, such as photovoltaics, oer a practical and economic alternative to conventional generation. India and China, the world's most populous countries, were chosen by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to implement photovoltaic (PV) applications to demonstrate 2 the economic viability and social acceptance of PV systems for such applications as home lighting, water pumping, communications, vaccine refrigeration, battery charging, solar lanterns, small power systems and other o-grid systems. The governments of the two countries are participating on a cost-shared basis and will be responsible for sustaining the initiatives beyond what the original projects are able to deliver. Further, it is expected that the results and improvements that occur can be replicated in other areas of the world where similar needs exist. The following material is representative of the initial experiences in the two countries. In addition, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has international agreements in renewable energy technologies with Argentina,

Geographical interdependence, international trade and economic dynamics: The Chinese and German solar energy industries

“…Terrestrial applications followed. In the 1990s the Chinese government and a number of international organizations implemented a series of programmes to provide electricity to 80 million people who lived in rural areas in western China and who, in 1995, had no access to grid electricity (CRED, 2000;Stone et al, 1998). At a national level the National Eight-Seven Poverty Alleviation Programme, the China Brightness Programme and the Project to Raise Income Levels of the Poor by Introducing Electricity resulted in the distribution of household PV systems to meet the needs of peasants and herdsmen in five provinces of southwest China, Inner Mongolia and Tibet.…”

Evaluation of the Algerian photovoltaic market potential

“…The results have to be analyzed in terms of the evolution of the world PV market perspectives, both on a global and regional scale. [10][11][12] According to many energy analysts, and especially the World Energy Council forecasts, solar energy will be considered as a world major energy supplier by 2050 and beyond. In this regard, we can consider the obtained data as fairly acceptable.…”