Performance and impact evaluation of solar home lighting systems on the rural livelihood in Assam, India

Barman, Mayur; Mahapatra, Santanu; Palit, Debajit; Chaudhury, Mrinal Krishna

doi:10.1016/j.esd.2017.02.004

Cited by 61 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Further debate exists around how to capture and evaluate the impact of energy access initiatives and the diffusion of energy technologies. The question of what happens after diffusion has mostly focused on an evaluation of diffusion models with a primary focus on quantitative assessments of cumulative sales, technical performance, battery life, repair and maintenance structures, customer satisfaction and reduction in kerosene consumption (Barman, Mahapatra, Palit, & Chaudhury, 2017). The question of economic development following basic energy access has received some attention, however, the evidence base is not strong.…”

Section: From "Counting Installations" Towards Diffusion In Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diffusion on the ground: Rethinking the logic of scale and access in off-grid solar in Sri Lanka

Turner

2019

Energy Research & Social Science

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Section: From "Counting Installations" Towards Diffusion In Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diffusion on the ground: Rethinking the logic of scale and access in off-grid solar in Sri Lanka

Turner

2019

Energy Research & Social Science

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“…The same argument applies for governments trying to electrify rural communities [52] that have no power-programs knows as rural electrification programs [53], reduce diesel consumption in communities that rely on diesel [8], or completely displace diesel in these communities [54]. Table 5 indicates that using a MSOC 20 percent reduces the net present cost of single home to nearly $70,000 compared with $117,000 when a MSOC of 50 percent was used.…”

Section: Nocturnal Load Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

State-of-Charge Effects on Standalone Solar-Storage Systems in Hot Climates: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia

Elshurafa

Aldubyan

2019

Sustainability

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In this paper, we quantify the economic and environmental implications of operating a standalone photovoltaic-battery system (PVB) while varying the battery’s minimum allowable state of charge (MSOC), the load profile, and simultaneously incorporating ambient temperature effects in hot climates. To that end, Saudi Arabia has been chosen for this case study. Over a project lifetime of 25 years, we find that, contrary to the widely accepted norm of 50% being a reasonable MSOC, a lower MSOC can bestow economic benefits. For example, a MSOC of 20% results in a lower number of batteries required throughout the lifetime of the project—while still meeting demand. For a village of 1000 homes, this translates to a saving of $47 million in net present value. Further, incorporating temperature effects results in deducing more realistic costs that are 125% higher than the ideal scenario (i.e., when temperature is not modeled). This difference stems from underestimating the actual number of batteries needed throughout the project lifetime. Compared to a diesel-powered microgrid, and for a village of 1000 homes, a PVB would, on an annual basis, avoid emitting 5000 tons of carbon and avoid burning 2 million liters of diesel.

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“…However, in other works, the authors argue that the impact of the gender dimension on sustainability of projects lacked sufficient evidence to draw causal links but was nonetheless expected. [27] A performance and impact evaluation for solar home lighting systems in Assam, India, in 2017 found only 28.9% of the systems were found to be totally functional [29]. The study implemented a comprehensive questionnaire to 544 households in the area where the overall number of installed systems is estimated at 40,035.…”

Section: Review Of Sustainability Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability evaluation of community-based, solar photovoltaic projects in Malawi

et al. 2020

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Background: A novel project sustainability framework is used to evaluate 65 off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) energy system projects in Malawi. This study addresses PV projects serving rural public facilities, a solution known to have had historical issues with poor sustainability. A recent countrywide program targeting such facilities was evaluated against existing projects to determine whether this latest iteration offered better results. Method: Sustainability is defined at the project-level with metrics justified under the main themes of technical, economic, social, and organizational. Data captured for each project is based on a custom survey and interview of key stakeholders. Projects are grouped according to age, project implementer, income level, and PV system size to compare relative results. Results: The sustainability outlook for each project is evaluated. We find sustainability for most projects to be low. Social sustainability was weak with many projects due to low local community stakeholder engagement in terms of numbers of stakeholders, meeting frequency, and community contributions. Organizational challenges included a lack of key management positions in place and extremely limited training provisions. Furthermore, the evaluation highlights the economic health of the system to be key to sustainability, with the "healthiest" projects affording only 37% of expected operations and maintenance costs. Relative to expected demand, systems were found to be undersized for both panels (53% of required) and batteries (57%). Users reported achieving only 60% of their desired consumption. Poor sizing standards related to the lack of load profiles for first-time electricity users as well as poor quality components reduced the overall technical sustainability. Conclusion: Rural public facilities with solar PV in Malawi are not well served by isolated community management. Improved sustainability requires the establishment of a robust financial framework prior to project development that includes formal local government support. This paper discusses ideal management frameworks and their ultimate implications for project developers, policy makers, and the research community.

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Performance and impact evaluation of solar home lighting systems on the rural livelihood in Assam, India

Cited by 61 publications

References 19 publications

Diffusion on the ground: Rethinking the logic of scale and access in off-grid solar in Sri Lanka

Diffusion on the ground: Rethinking the logic of scale and access in off-grid solar in Sri Lanka

State-of-Charge Effects on Standalone Solar-Storage Systems in Hot Climates: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia

Sustainability evaluation of community-based, solar photovoltaic projects in Malawi

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