Reliability of a 13 000‐SHS photovoltaic rural electrification programme

Abstract

In this paper, a reliability analysis of a photovoltaic rural electrification (PVRE) programme is proposed considering the failures in the 13 000 installed Solar Home System (SHS) devices occurring over a long operating period of 5 years. A previous arrangement of the database and a brief explanation of the reliability concepts will serve to introduce the failure distribution of every component, from which the SHS lifetime operating features will be described. An application example will show the usefulness of the obtained results in the forecasting of spare parts during the maintenance period. The conclusions of this study may be useful in the scientific design of PVRE programme maintenance structures, with the goal of shedding some light on the technical management mechanisms in decentralised rural electrification.

In-field assessment of batteries and PV modules in a large photovoltaic rural electrification programme

“…However, in reality batteries survive until the user complains about frequent blackouts. The PERG experience [13] shows that, in average, this happens after 5.5 years of operation. According to the previously derived degradation model, the remaining capacity of the battery at the end of this 'use-time' must be around 18% of the nominal value.…”

“…Additionally, a reliability study based on actual SHSs failures [ 13 ] has shown that lamps and charge controllers have a constant yearly failure rate of 6.0% and 3.7% respectively. Corresponding MTTF (mean time to failure) values are 27 and 17 years.…”

Utility led rural electrification in Morocco: combining grid extension, mini‐grids, and solar home systems

“…This constitutes about 32% of what was first planned and only about 50% of the targets in the concessions. Temasol apparently had 23,000 systems functioning in 2011 of a total of 26,000 systems installed, while Isofoton had installed about 13,000 systems by 2011 . No official statistical information has been available on how many kits were installed by each of the concessionaires.…”

Off-grid solar photovoltaic systems for rural electrification and emissions mitigation in India

“…Such factors are particularly important in the evaluation of new technologies in comparison with the incumbents. Whilst previous studies have addressed the performance [9][10][11], cost [12][13][14][15][16][17], and carbon intensity [14,18] of PV electricity, sometimes in an off-grid context [19,20], few combine all three [21][22][23][24][25] and none encompass emerging PV technologies. In particular, no previous approaches have addressed mitigation potential from a whole system life-cycle perspective, including storage and accounting for the electricity actually used to satisfy demand.…”