Integration and Optimization of Renewables and Storages for Rural Electrification
Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa, 34, 20156 Milano, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Tan Yigitcanlar
Sustainability 2016, 8(10), 982; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8100982
Received: 23 June 2016 / Revised: 31 August 2016 / Accepted: 18 September 2016 / Published: 29 September 2016
(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Urban and Rural Development)
The electricity access in Sub-Saharan African countries is below 10%; thus, introducing a microgrid for rural electrification can overcome the endemic lack of modern electricity access that hampers the provision of basic services such as education, healthcare, safety, economic and social growth for rural communities. This work studies different possible comparison methods considering variations such as land area required, location for the storage, efficiency, availability and reliability of energy resources, and technology cost variability (investment cost and levelized cost of electricity), which are among the major key parameters used to assess the best possible utilization of renewables and storage system, either using them in the form of integrated, hybrid or independent systems. The study is carried out largely with the help of the Micropower optimization modeling simulator called HOMER for Ethiopia. As a result, the study proposes the use of Photovoltaic (PV)–Wind–Hydro–Battery hybrid system model that concludes the optimal configuration of power systems at affordable price for underserved rural communities.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
renewable energy; photovoltaic system; storage system; fuel cell
▼
Show Figures
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Brenna, M.; Foiadelli, F.; Longo, M.; Abegaz, T.D. Integration and Optimization of Renewables and Storages for Rural Electrification. Sustainability 2016, 8, 982. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8100982
AMA Style
Brenna M, Foiadelli F, Longo M, Abegaz TD. Integration and Optimization of Renewables and Storages for Rural Electrification. Sustainability. 2016; 8(10):982. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8100982
Chicago/Turabian StyleBrenna, Morris; Foiadelli, Federica; Longo, Michela; Abegaz, Tamrat D. 2016. "Integration and Optimization of Renewables and Storages for Rural Electrification" Sustainability 8, no. 10: 982. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8100982
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
Search more from Scilit