Estimation of demand diversity and daily demand profile for off grid electrification in developing countries

Date
2015-11-18
Authors
Boait, Peter John
Gammon, Rupert
Advani, Varun
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Peer reviewed
Yes
Abstract
The potential for small self-contained grid systems to provide electricity for currently unserved regions of the developing world is widely recognised. However planning and managing the electrical demand that will be supported, so that a mini-grid system is not overloaded and its available resource is used as fully as possible, is actually more difficult than for a large scale grid system. This paper discusses the mathematical reasons why this is the case, and describes a practical software tool for mini-grid demand estimation and planning that is complementary to the widely used HOMER software. This software tool is made available for download on an open source basis. Finally a conclusion is offered that mini-grid systems should aim to serve at least 50 households so that demand variability is more manageable and economies of scale can be realised.
Description
Describes software downloadable from: https://github.com/peterboait/ESCoBox_Load_Model Open Access
Keywords
mini-grid, micro-grid, demand diversity, Monte Carlo model, HOMER
Citation
Boait, P., Advani, V and Gammon, R. (2015) Estimation of demand diversity and daily demand profile for off grid electrification in developing countries. Energy for Sustainable Development, 29, pp. 135-141
Research Institute
Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development (IESD)