IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v9y2017i5p738-d97412.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

ESCoBox: A Set of Tools for Mini-Grid Sustainability in the Developing World

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Boait

    (Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University, Queens Building, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK)

  • Rupert Gammon

    (Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University, Queens Building, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK)

  • Varun Advani

    (Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University, Queens Building, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK)

  • Neal Wade

    (School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle NE1 7RU, UK)

  • David Greenwood

    (School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle NE1 7RU, UK)

  • Peter Davison

    (School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle NE1 7RU, UK)

Abstract

Mini-grids powered by photovoltaic generators or other renewable energy sources have the potential to bring electricity to the 17% of the world’s population, mainly in rural areas, that are currently un-served. However, designing and managing a mini-grid so that it is reliable and economically sustainable is difficult because of the high variability of demand that arises from the small population of consumers. We describe an integrated set of four tools to assist mini-grid operators to predict and manage demand. These comprise a decision support tool to predict peak and average demand from a consumer population, a demand disaggregation tool that allows the key statistical properties of connected electricity-consuming appliances to be identified, a battery condition modeling tool which allows the impact on battery life of a planned operating regime to be predicted and a demand control sub-system which limits the operating time of high demand appliances to intervals when they can be supported. Results from application of the tool set to mini-grids in Kenya and The Gambia are presented. We conclude that accessible, usable and low cost tools of this form can improve mini-grid sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Boait & Rupert Gammon & Varun Advani & Neal Wade & David Greenwood & Peter Davison, 2017. "ESCoBox: A Set of Tools for Mini-Grid Sustainability in the Developing World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:5:p:738-:d:97412
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/5/738/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/5/738/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Szabó, S. & Bódis, K. & Huld, T. & Moner-Girona, M., 2013. "Sustainable energy planning: Leapfrogging the energy poverty gap in Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 500-509.
    2. Carrie Armel, K. & Gupta, Abhay & Shrimali, Gireesh & Albert, Adrian, 2013. "Is disaggregation the holy grail of energy efficiency? The case of electricity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 213-234.
    3. Yadoo, Annabel & Cruickshank, Heather, 2012. "The role for low carbon electrification technologies in poverty reduction and climate change strategies: A focus on renewable energy mini-grids with case studies in Nepal, Peru and Kenya," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 591-602.
    4. Hazelton, James & Bruce, Anna & MacGill, Iain, 2014. "A review of the potential benefits and risks of photovoltaic hybrid mini-grid systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 222-229.
    5. Crossland, Andrew F. & Anuta, Oghenetejiri H. & Wade, Neal S., 2015. "A socio-technical approach to increasing the battery lifetime of off-grid photovoltaic systems applied to a case study in Rwanda," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 30-40.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yong Long & Yu Wang & Chengrong Pan, 2017. "Auction Mechanism of Micro-Grid Project Transfer," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-20, October.
    2. Caputo, Cesare & Cardin, Michel-Alexandre & Ge, Pudong & Teng, Fei & Korre, Anna & Antonio del Rio Chanona, Ehecatl, 2023. "Design and planning of flexible mobile Micro-Grids using Deep Reinforcement Learning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    3. Zhuang Zheng & Hainan Chen & Xiaowei Luo, 2018. "A Supervised Event-Based Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring for Non-Linear Appliances," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-28, March.
    4. William Clements & Surendra Pandit & Prashanna Bajracharya & Joe Butchers & Sam Williamson & Biraj Gautam & Paul Harper, 2021. "Techno-Economic Modelling of Micro-Hydropower Mini-Grids in Nepal to Improve Financial Sustainability and Enable Electric Cooking," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-23, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brunet, Carole & Savadogo, Oumarou & Baptiste, Pierre & Bouchard, Michel A., 2018. "Shedding some light on photovoltaic solar energy in Africa – A literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 325-342.
    2. Mandelli, Stefano & Barbieri, Jacopo & Mereu, Riccardo & Colombo, Emanuela, 2016. "Off-grid systems for rural electrification in developing countries: Definitions, classification and a comprehensive literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1621-1646.
    3. Sachiko Graber & Tara Narayanan & Jose F. Alfaro & Debajit Palit, 2019. "Perceptions towards solar mini‐grid systems in India: A multi‐stakeholder analysis," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(4), pages 253-266, November.
    4. Alam, Majbaul & Bhattacharyya, Subhes, 2017. "Are the off-grid customers ready to pay for electricity from the decentralized renewable hybrid mini-grids? A study of willingness to pay in rural Bangladesh," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 433-446.
    5. Holstenkamp, Lars, 2019. "What do we know about cooperative sustainable electrification in the global South? A synthesis of the literature and refined social-ecological systems framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 307-320.
    6. Gill-Wiehl, A. & Miles, S. & Wu, J. & Kammen, D.M., 2022. "Beyond customer acquisition: A comprehensive review of community participation in mini grid projects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    7. Proietti, Stefania & Sdringola, Paolo & Castellani, Francesco & Astolfi, Davide & Vuillermoz, Elisa, 2017. "On the contribution of renewable energies for feeding a high altitude Smart Mini Grid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1694-1701.
    8. Chirambo, Dumisani, 2016. "Addressing the renewable energy financing gap in Africa to promote universal energy access: Integrated renewable energy financing in Malawi," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 793-803.
    9. Mathilde Brix Pedersen, 2016. "Deconstructing the concept of renewable energy-based mini-grids for rural electrification in East Africa," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(5), pages 570-587, September.
    10. Moner-Girona, M. & Solano-Peralta, M. & Lazopoulou, M. & Ackom, E.K. & Vallve, X. & Szabó, S., 2018. "Electrification of Sub-Saharan Africa through PV/hybrid mini-grids: Reducing the gap between current business models and on-site experience," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1148-1161.
    11. , Diego, 2017. "The Natural and Infrastructural Capital Elements of Potential Post-Electrification Wealth Creation in Kenya," SocArXiv ddnhz, Center for Open Science.
    12. Wu, Junqi & Niu, Zhibin & Li, Xiang & Huang, Lizhen & Nielsen, Per Sieverts & Liu, Xiufeng, 2023. "Understanding multi-scale spatiotemporal energy consumption data: A visual analysis approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PD).
    13. Liam Byrnes, 2014. "The cost of failing to install renewable energy in regional Western Australia," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 9-2014, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    14. Chatzigeorgiou, I.M. & Andreou, G.T., 2021. "A systematic review on feedback research for residential energy behavior change through mobile and web interfaces," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    15. Jānis Krūmiņš & Māris Kļaviņš, 2023. "Investigating the Potential of Nuclear Energy in Achieving a Carbon-Free Energy Future," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-31, April.
    16. Haidar, Ahmed M.A. & Muttaqi, Kashem & Sutanto, Danny, 2015. "Smart Grid and its future perspectives in Australia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1375-1389.
    17. Y, Kiguchi & Y, Heo & M, Weeks & R, Choudhary, 2019. "Predicting intra-day load profiles under time-of-use tariffs using smart meter data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 959-970.
    18. Domenech, B. & Ferrer-Martí, L. & Pastor, R., 2015. "Hierarchical methodology to optimize the design of stand-alone electrification systems for rural communities considering technical and social criteria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 182-196.
    19. Zhou, Yang & Shi, Zhixiong & Shi, Zhengyu & Gao, Qing & Wu, Libo, 2019. "Disaggregating power consumption of commercial buildings based on the finite mixture model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C), pages 35-46.
    20. Baurzhan, Saule & Jenkins, Glenn P., 2016. "Off-grid solar PV: Is it an affordable or appropriate solution for rural electrification in Sub-Saharan African countries?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1405-1418.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:5:p:738-:d:97412. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.