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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
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    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.
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    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.

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