Characterization of Technological Innovations in Photovoltaic Rural Electrification, Based on the Experiences of Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina: Third Generation Solar Home Systems

Abstract

The electrification of isolated homes in rural areas without access to the electric grid has been achieved in part using solar energy transformed into electricity through Photovoltaic (PV) equipment known as Solar Home Systems (SHSs), which has been widely disseminated throughout the world. The use of SHSs in rural electrification projects has been studied from 1980 to date, they have been incorporating advances and technological innovations successively. Through the review of documents on PV projects, articles, and technical reports, it has been possible to identify the changes in the main components of the SHS and the typical configurations, systematizing them in a discrete timeline. Thereby, this article characterizes three generations of SHSs and highlights their differences. The first generation is fully valid between 1980–1995, the second generation in 1995–2010, and the third generation from 2005 to date, which overlaps the beginning. In any case, the time limits in each period are only referential. The later generation, Third Generation Solar Home Systems (3G-SHSs), is highly efficient, uses LED lamps, lithium batteries, microelectronic control, and plug and play connections. Indeed, this equipment can be self-managed by the user and reflects the technology’s high reliability by a minimum maintenance service in situ. Furthermore, their lower costs make access to electricity more affordable for the last mile population. The present research offers a detailed technological and operational characterization of the 3G-SHSs to show the most relevant aspects of support to project developers, planners, and decision-makers to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7.

Luces Nuevas Experience Lighting Rural Bolivia: A Way to Reach SDG 7

“…From the 1980s, photovoltaics power generation has improved drastically. Nowadays, the Third Generation Solar Home Systems (3G-SHSs) are highly efficient and use LED lamps, lithium batteries, microelectronic control, and plug and play connections [18].…”

“…In this paper, the authors' experience in providing some Bolivian communities access to energy is presented. Electricity coverage in Bolivian rural areas was 79.3% in 2019 [18]. The Non-Governmental Organization "Luces Nuevas Internacional" has developed a method to successfully provide Universal Access to Energy (UAE) to Bolivian rural communities.…”

Sustainable Rural Electrification Project Management: An Analysis of Three Case Studies

“…Second-generation SHS are equipment specifically designed to optimize solar energy use, with higher capacity and efficiency than first-generation systems but lower required power. A novelty of these systems is that they feature a DC-DC voltage adapter for radio to allow radio connection of different voltages below DC 12 V and a socket to charge mobile phones [74]. Therefore, the service provided by the SHS in the project allows up to four hours of light using spotlights and the charge and use of entertainment and communication equipment, such as mobile devices.…”

Evaluation of Transfer Learning and Fine-Tuning to Nowcast Energy Generation of Photovoltaic Systems in Different Climates

“…Furthermore, new applications that are geared towards individual customers are being developed, enhancing trends such as self-consumption, off-grid generation taking account of new advances in electricity storage, etc. [29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. In addition, the considerable increase in the number of customers that, not only consume, but generate energy (prosumers) also highlights the need for powerful but simple tools to enable these individual customers to operate, control and maintain their installations [36][37][38].…”