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Affordable Energy for Rural Areas Around 1.6 billion people in the world have no electricity. The majority live in remote regions, where long distances and high connection costs make it impossible to connect to the public grid. As an example, Sub-Saharan Africa has a rural electrification rate of below 10% with approximately 70% of its population living in rural areas. Local development is directly connected to energy which represents a decisive argument for the establishment of local industries or small companies.
What is off-grid? Off -grid systems are energy systems that are not connected to the public power grid. They could be either fossil fuel based (conventional energy) or renewable energy based. They produce elec-
Decentralised autonomous power supplies will be a major contributor to the energy production of the sun-belt region in the future, even more so for rural communities.
tricity for autonomous energy consumers (e.g. health centers, hotels, etc.)
The price for off-grid power Solar off -grid power systems already represent an attractive economic alternative to conventional generators. Fossil energy systems require a relatively low initial investment, but high operational costs, while renewable energies require relatively high initial investment and very low operational costs. Thanks to the global market growth of renewable energies, the costs for off -grid solar systems have been steadily decreasing. Whilst at the same time, the oil-price has risen continuously and will continue to do so into the coming decades. The economical parity of solar off -grid systems compared with diesel applications in high solar irradition regions like Africa lays between 3 to 4 years. Reflecting the fact that the diesel price will rise in the coming few years, this breakeven time will constantly decrease.
Solar System versus Diesel Generator Assumptions: PV: 140 kWp, Battery: 36.000 Ah, System: AC coupled, Fuel costs: 1.2 €/L, Solar fraction: 75 %, Replacement of batteries every 7 years, incl. installation, maintenance and operation costs
Project costs in mio. € 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5
Diesel
Solar Hybrid
0
5
10
15
Years