Methodology to Design and Validate a Sustainable Isolated Solar Photovoltaic System Y.U. López, Hugo A. Macia   2017/04/25

Abstrac

This paper presents a methodology for designing an affordable photovoltaic solar school system installed on an island in the Colombian Pacific Coast, without power grid connection. After meeting with the community to identify their energetic needs, design begins by evaluating social, political and economic community issues and determining a load table, to calculate the power and energy consumed by the school in a regular day. Then, the solar array, electronic devices and batteries bank is calculated taking into account the losses generated by the electronic power equipment and its autonomy. The solar array sizing considers the school maximum power consumption per hour adding the necessary power to charge the batteries charged 70%. System validation for an optimal PV design on an isolated community is performed using Homer and SaberRD computational simulations tools. Results confirm that starting on dialoguing with the community optimize the design and help to create a sustainable strategy, encouraging an efficient use of equipment and energy.

Authors and affiliations

Y.U. López(1), Hugo A. Macias(2)
1. Department of Energetic and Mechanical Engineering. Universidad Autónoma de Occidente. (Colombia)
2. Department of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering, Universidad Autónoma de Occidente. (Colombia)

Key word

Solar PV, sizing, rural electrification, Saber-RD

References

[1] REN21, 2016. Renewables 2016 Global Status Report. Paris, REN21 Secretariat
[2] Debajit Palit, Solar energy programs for rural electrification: Experiences and lessons from South Asia, Energy for Sustainable Development, Volume 17, Issue 3, June 2013, Pages 270-279
[3] Abdul Ghafoor, Anjum Munir, Design and economics analysis of an off-grid PV system for household electrification, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 42, February 2015, Pages 496-502
[4] H. Rezzouk, A. Mellit, Feasibility study and sensitivity analysis of a stand-alone photovoltaic–diesel–battery hybrid energy system in the north of Algeria, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 43, March 2015, Pages 1134-1150.
[5] Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales de Colombia (IDEAM), Atlas de Radiación Solar, Ultravioleta y Ozono de Colombia, http://atlas.ideam.gov.co/visorAtlasRadiacion.html
[6] G. Notton, V. Lazarov, L. Stoyanov, Optimal sizing of a gridconnected PV system for various PV module technologies and inclinations, inverter efficiency characteristics and locations, Renewable Energy, Volume 35, Issue 2, February 2010, Pages 541-554.
[7] Cumbre de Johannesburgo. (2002, Agosto 24) Cumbre mundial sobre el desarrollo sostenible. Apartado “la energía” [En línea]. Disponible en cinu.org.mx. http://www.cinu.org.mx/eventos/conferencias/johannesburgo/medios/carpeta/energia.htm
[8] CREG, “Propuesta para remunerar la generación, distribución y comercialización de Energía Eléctrica en las ZNI” – Colombia. Bogotá. 2014.
[9] N. U. Blum, R. Sryantoro Wakeling, and T. S. Schmidt, “Rural electrification through village grids—Assessing the cost
competitiveness of isolated renewable energy technologies in Indonesia,” Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., vol. 22, pp. 482–496, 2013.
[10] A. Ghasemi, A. Asrari, M. Zarif, and S. Abdelwahed, “Technoeconomic analysis of stand-alone hybrid photovoltaic– diesel–battery systems for rural electrification in eastern part of Iran—A step toward sustainable rural development,” Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., vol. 28, pp. 456–462, 2013.
[11] S. Abdullah and A. Markandya, “Rural electrification programmes in Kenya: Policy conclusions from a valuation
study,” Energy Sustain. Dev., vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 103–110, 2012.
[12] M. Fadaeenejad, M. A. M. Radzi, M. Z. A. AbKadir, and H. Hizam, “Assessment of hybrid renewable power sources for rural electrification in Malaysia,” Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., vol. 30, pp. 299–305, 2014.