article · Energy Conversion and Management X
Rural electrification using off-grid solar photovoltaic and diesel hybrid renewable energy systems often faces constraints due to a lack of productive power demand. Techno-economic modelling using HOMER software evaluates how incorporating agro-processing loads affects system performance for rural communities in Ghana. Integrating these industrial productive loads improves both the community load factor and the correlation between electricity demand and solar generation. Consequently, expanding the renewable energy fraction within the hybrid setup decreases the levelised cost of energy, enhancing generation cost-effectiveness. Despite this economic improvement, the resulting levelised cost remains considerably higher than the end-user tariffs paid by residential consumers connected to the national grid. This disparity persists even under scenarios featuring high solar penetration and full capital cost subsidies, highlighting critical economic realities for off-grid rural electrification planning.
Reliable rural electrification depends on sustainable economics as well as clean technology. Demonstrating that agro-processing loads make off-grid hybrid systems more efficient and cost-effective helps planners design viable mini-grids. However, showing that energy costs still surpass subsidised grid tariffs provides crucial realistic context for policymakers designing rural power subsidies and investment frameworks.
The findings apply to mini-grid developers, rural energy planners, and policymakers evaluating off-grid power deployment in agricultural areas. The work demonstrates how pairing agro-processing machinery with solar-diesel systems improves economic viability. Because the analysis relies on computer simulations via HOMER software rather than physical field deployment, the insights represent applied modelling that requires real-world piloting before commercial adoption.
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Access to reliable electricity remains a significant challenge in many rural communities worldwide. Off-grid solar PV hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) have emerged as a viable option for rural electrification. However, rural communities' lack of productive load often limits their effectiveness. This study aimed to assess the impact of agro-processing productive loads on the performance of off-grid solar PV HRES for rural electrification. Hybrid Optimization Multiple Energy Resource (HOMER) software was used to perform a techno-economic analysis of a solar PV/diesel HRES. The study findings showed improvement in the rural community's load factor and solar load correlation with the integration of the productive load. Subsequently, increasing the renewable energy fraction in solar PV/diesel HRES reduces the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), making electricity generation more cost-effective for rural electrification in Ghana. Comparatively, the improved LCOE was found to be substantially higher than the End User Tariff of all residential consumers on the national grid, even under high PV penetration and full capital cost subsidy cases. The study provides valuable insights into the role of agro-based productive loads in enhancing the performance of rural off-grid solar HRES.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.ecmx.2024.100525
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