Electricity for development: Mini-grid solution for rural electrification in South Africa

Azimoh, Chukwuma Leonard; Klintenberg, Patrik; Wallin, Fredrik; Karlsson, Björn; Mbohwa, Charles

doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2015.12.015

Cited by 118 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Actually, the whole structure of spending can be altered with access to electricity, with more spending on education, communication, and less on food (but this is partly linked to the fact that household without solar are poorer); nevertheless, existing quantitative surveys on solar tend to focus on savings on traditional fuels or do not dissociate impact of solar from other causes. 6 For instance, see Azimoh, Klintenberg, Wallin, and Mbohwa (2016) and Chaurey and Kandpal (2010). 7 Otherwise there is no quantification of effective impact on reducing crime or reducing animal attacks; surveys collect only anecdotal evidence or try to quantify perception of safety (sense of safety which can be as important for well-being and improved social relations as objective data).…”

Section: Conflict Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar home systems and solar lanterns in rural areas of the Global South: What impact?

Lemaire

2018

WIREs Energy & Environment

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Assessing the extent of evidence available relating to the impact of solar energy for households (HHs) in developing countries, surveys are reviewed focusing on the impact of pico‐photovoltaic (e.g., solar lanterns) or solar home systems (SHS) on rural HHs and directly related economic activities of their occupiers. Ninety‐eight documents have been analyzed. Areas of enquiry have included the impact of small individual solar photovoltaic systems on different facets of the life of HHs' occupiers: their education, health, finance, livelihoods, and social relations. Research on the impact of small solar systems contradicts the commonly accepted idea that small solar systems—due to their limited capacity—cannot have an impact in terms of development. In actual fact, these systems seem to have a significant impact in terms of quality of life for their users and in helping them to keep connected to the global world by supplying power to mobile phones and television sets. Nevertheless, it is not yet possible to draw definitive conclusions on their quantitative impact in specific areas, except for: (a) evidence of increase of quality lighting, (b) strong evidence of cost savings when kerosene lamps are replaced by solar lighting, and (c) evidence on the impact of solar lighting on the time of studying of children and quality of education. Finally, indications are given on the kind of research which could be conducted to fill current gaps in demonstrating evidence of the impact of small individual solar systems. This article is categorized under: Photovoltaics > Climate and Environment Energy and Climate > Economics and Policy

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Section: Conflict Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar home systems and solar lanterns in rural areas of the Global South: What impact?

Lemaire

2018

WIREs Energy & Environment

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“…In fact, there are about 620 million people in this continent that have no access to electricity, which is equivalent to two-thirds of Africa's population [8].Of the 315 million people in rural Africa who are expected to have access to electricity by 2040, only 30% of them will be connected to national networks. The others will be connected to off-grid or mini-grid power systems [9]. Kofi Annan, chairman of the Africa Progress Panel and former UN secretary general urged African governments and their partners to do their utmost to combat the enormous energy deficit in Africa.…”

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confidence: 99%

Design, Simulation, and Economic Optimization of an Off-Grid Photovoltaic System for Rural Electrification

et al. 2019

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Access to clean and affordable energy in rural African regions can contribute greatly to social development. Hence, this article proposes the design, simulation, and optimization of a stand-alone photovoltaic system (SAPV) to provide non-polluting electrical energy based on a renewable source for a rural house located in Tazouta, Morocco. Real monthly electrical demands and hourly climatic conditions were utilized. An initial design process indicated that, with a 1080 W p total capacity of PV modules and 670 Ah of battery storage, the proposed SAPV system was able to meet a considerable part of the dwelling load with an average solar fraction of about 79.1%. The rest of the energy demand was ensured by a diesel generator (DG). Also, a life cycle analysis of the PV system revealed that the life cycle cost is 10,195.56 USD and the unit electricity cost is 0.57 USD/kWh for an initial investment of 4858.68 USD. Thereafter, an optimum design based on Homer Pro software was carried out indicating that lower PV capacity can decrease the unit energy cost to 0.356 USD/kWh while reducing the solar fraction to 54.9%.Energies 2019, 12, 4735 2 of 16 society [1]. Access to electricity has not only been identified as an essential element for socio-economic development, but also contributes towards poverty reduction in society [2]. However, electricity generation and its supply are not distributed equally in the world, especially in rural regions [3][4][5] that also suffer from the low quality of the power supply distribution services [6,7]. Yet, most of African countries, for instance, are still underdeveloped both in terms of infrastructure and power network, despite large, ongoing renewable energy projects in the region. In fact, there are about 620 million people in this continent that have no access to electricity, which is equivalent to two-thirds of Africa's population [8].Of the 315 million people in rural Africa who are expected to have access to electricity by 2040, only 30% of them will be connected to national networks. The others will be connected to off-grid or mini-grid power systems [9]. Kofi Annan, chairman of the Africa Progress Panel and former UN secretary general urged African governments and their partners to do their utmost to combat the enormous energy deficit in Africa. This joint appeal was launched on Monday, 13 March 2017, at the ADB headquarters in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on the occasion of the launch of the Africa Progress Panel report entitled "Light, Energy, Action: Electrifying Africa", which calls for adopting all existing solutions-network and off-grid systems-to illuminate Africa and power it [10].It is no great surprise as this continent has an abundant potential of solar, hydro, wind, and geothermal sources of energy and contains significant quantities of natural gas. Some countries even have coal deposits. The great challenge for Africa is to exploit and manage these resources and make them contribute to its economic development and ease for the inhabitants. Morocco, which belongs to the north...

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“…This result shows that South Africa is reducing its dependence on coal. This also indicates that the strategy of increasing the use of renewable energy, formulated by the South African government, has scored remarkable achievements, which contributes to the carbon emission reduction [49,50].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting Coal Consumption in South Africa Based on Linear (Metabolic Grey Model), Nonlinear (Non-Linear Grey Model), and Combined (Metabolic Grey Model-Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model) Models

et al. 2018

Sustainability

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South Africa's coal consumption accounts for 69.6% of the total energy consumption of South Africa, and this represents more than 88% of African coal consumption, taking the first place in Africa. Thus, predicting the coal demand is necessary, in order to ensure the supply and demand balance of energy, reduce carbon emissions and promote a sustainable development of economy and society. In this study, the linear (Metabolic Grey

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Electricity for development: Mini-grid solution for rural electrification in South Africa

Cited by 118 publications

References 20 publications

Solar home systems and solar lanterns in rural areas of the Global South: What impact?

Solar home systems and solar lanterns in rural areas of the Global South: What impact?

Design, Simulation, and Economic Optimization of an Off-Grid Photovoltaic System for Rural Electrification

Predicting Coal Consumption in South Africa Based on Linear (Metabolic Grey Model), Nonlinear (Non-Linear Grey Model), and Combined (Metabolic Grey Model-Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model) Models

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