Assessment of stand-alone photovoltaic system and mini-grid solar system as solutions to electrification of remote villages in Afghanistan

Afghanistan enjoys huge renewable energy, especially solar resources. Meanwhile, most of the population especially people who live in remote rural areas, still do not have appropriate access to electricity. Poor access to energy has made life more challenging and deprived rustic people from related primary living facilities. To address this grant challenge, considering the high potential of solar energy available in the country, this paper presents a study on design and economic comparison of the two most feasible methods of solar power production for rural areas in Afghanistan. In the first method, a stand-alone Solar Photovoltaic (PV) system has individually been considered in every single house of a village. In this way, energy is produced and consumed in each house itself. While in the second method, energy for the whole village is produced by a micro solar power station in a centralized manner and then distributed through a 0.4 kV islanded Mini grid all around the village. The study is carried out through conventional mathematical relations, based on daily energy demand in a rural household. The result indicates that implementation of the second method is not only best affordable but also more viable and will create other socio-economic opportunities.