Cost and reliability analysis for off-grid PV electrification options | |
| Author | Das, Pallavi |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ET-16-06 |
| Subject(s) | Electric power systems--Costs Electric power systems--Reliability--Economic aspects Solar energy--Costs |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Energy |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | This study will explore different off-grid solar PV options and provide guidelines to choose the best option among them for increasing energy access in developing countries and enhancing lives. Solar standalone systems have been used in the past two decades, and two new layouts of the centralized and distributed generation network will be considered in this study. The centralized micro-grid layout will consist of a single PV plant and battery back that will supply to a few homes. The distributed micro-grid layout will consist of two or more PV generating plants that will power some houses, further they will be interconnected among themselves. Further, Tier 1 and Tier 2 loads will be considered. Cost and reliability in terms of autonomy and emergency conditions will be considered for each other the three different systems. Homer software will be used to size the PV capacity and battery bank and calculate the costs (NPV) and find the autonomy for each of system. In terms of cost: As the number of houses is increased, the AC system will be preferred, for Tier 1 after 41 houses and for Tier 2 after 16 houses. Also, higher voltage of 48V will reduce the costs when the number of houses is increased. Efficient Li-Ion batteries though more efficient and with stand higher DOD%, lead acid batteries will still be cost effective. Standalone systems will be more costly than the centralized system and distributed system. Between centralized and distributed system, centralized system will initially be cost effective however increasing the number of houses, distributed generation will be more effective. In terms of reliability: A distributed network will always have higher of equal autonomy than a centralized counterpart. Also the emergency reliability of a distributed system will depend on the number of houses and will also be higher than that of a centralized system. |
| Year | 2016 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Energy Technology (ET) |
| Chairperson(s) | Kumar, Sivanappan |
| Examination Committee(s) | Mohanty, Brahmanand;Singh, Jai Govind |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2016 |