Mini IEC Grid Connected Renewable Energy System For Rural Electrification

Solar Mini-Grids For Rural Electrification

Electricity access is essential for people’s lives and livelihoods: from using fridges to store food and medicine; charging mobile phones to stay connected; lighting up households and schools at night; to powering local businesses.

Applications include:

• Village power supplies
• Island power supplies
• Hotels & mountain resorts
• Remote farms
• Lodges & Cabins
• Hospitals & Schools
• Telecommunication and radio stations
• Mobile applications

Mini-grids represent an interesting and important midway point between stand-alone and major grid electricity systems. They typically serve remote communities that are not economical to connect to large grids due to their isolation, but that have a sufficient density and diversity of end users so that it makes sense to connect them together rather than supply them all with stand-alone systems. The use of a mini-grid also permits the use of generation technologies that might not be feasible or economical at smaller scale, such as multiple diesel gensets or biomass or small hydro facilities.

Most countries foresees a critical role for mini-grids in providing universal energy access in developing countries that still haven't achieved near complete electrification. There are also some mini-grid deployments in developed countries for isolated communities, such as those on islands, or those located in particularly harsh and remote locations.