Modelling PV-based communal grids potential for rural western Kenya

Nicholas Opiyo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Communal grids based on locally available renewable energy resources could be the bridge between national grid extensions and stand-alone power generations systems, offering least-cost paths to rural ‘electrification-beyond-lighting’ in developing nations. In this work the potential to supply electricity to a rural community in Kenya using PV-based communal grids is explored. Results show that for a properly sized system, gridding many solar microgeneration systems together leads to better power management, and thus efficiency, than when each system operates individually in a stand-alone configuration. Results further show that the higher the number of individual systems in each grid configuration, the higher the power exported to the external grid, and thus the better the power system management and efficiency.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)54-61
Number of pages8
JournalSustainable Energy, Grids and Networks
Volume4
Early online date30 Oct 2015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - Dec 2015

Keywords

  • Communal Grids
  • Electrification-Beyond-Lighting
  • Rural Electrification
  • Solar (PV)
  • Renewable Energy

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