Analysis of isolated power systems for village electrification

A large part of the world's population, particularly in India and Africa, lives in villages that often lie beyond the reach of grid power supply. Isolated power systems, which generate power at site, are considered as a viable option for the electrification of these areas. This paper discusses Indian experiences of isolated power systems. In India, there are many villages which have been electrified through renewable isolated power plants like biomass gasifier and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Case studies have been conducted for three such isolated power plants in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is observed from these case studies that the existing power plants are oversized and have a potential for reduction in distribution losses. This paper proposes an integrated design method for isolated power system, which combines load modeling, sizing and optimum distribution network. The levelized unit cost of energy can be reduced by 25-50% for the case studies by adopting the integrated design methodology. Generic guidelines are evolved for systems design from the case studies of sample isolated power systems. (C) 2010 International Energy Initiative. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.