Design and Optimization of a Microgrid System With Integrated Renewable Energy Sources for Sub-Saharan Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where electrification rates stay the lowest in the world, conventional electrification methods, including intermittent grid connection and standby diesel generator, have shown sustainability constraints to overcome the issue of electrification. Understanding the energy sources in sub-Saharan Africa and integrating the available resources with a microgrid system power supply innovation will address the electrification issues. Demands from the increasing population in Sub-Sahara Africa have challenged the scientific and technical communities to supply quality energy in a sustainable manner. Excess usage of fossil fuels has resulted in the consumption of the reserves resulting in a significant impact on the global environment. Different countries in sub-Saharan Africa are scuffling to develop sustainable urban development using renewable energy means. Renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, hydro, and biomass will play a significant role in increasing global energy requirements and come up with energy assurance. The use of renewable energy sources will help the populace live a sustainable life. This study is focused on the concept of microgrid system, which utilizes the available renewable energy sources to supply various forms of energy in an economical and environmentally friendly way. The system is studied with cost optimization and then emission efficiency optimization to evaluate the suitability. The aim of this paper is to introduce microgrid system power supply innovation and generally make Sub-Saharan African countries knowledgeable about renewable energy sources like solar energy by finding alternative ways to provide electricity supply through microgrid systems. The primary objective of this study is to determine how this can be achieved optimally while reducing the environmental impacts from electricity generation as well as the costs of electricity supply. A microgrid system was designed, and the economic and environmental effects analyzed using HOMER software developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the United States. A three-month load profile collected from a community in sub-Saharan Africa, Lagos in Nigeria, was used for the analysis. The result presented in this report is the optimized result of a microgrid system comprising of a solar photovoltaic system, Lithium-ion battery for storage, and diesel generator. Comparative results showing the analysis for different project life cycle is also included in the report. The microgrid model of this study can be replicated for any community in sub-Saharan Africa based on the type of energy requirements, available renewable energy sources, and topography of the location.

Keywords: Hybrid renewable energy system; microgrid system; intermittent off-grid connection; economic analysis; HOMER software; rural electrification; sub-Saharan Africa.