Solar Nano-Grids: An appropriate solution for meeting community energy needs?

The increasing success of Solar home systems over recent years (in terms of the number of installations) is undoubted. There is now a relatively wide literature documenting the successes and limitations of different business models in facilitating the growth of the sector, as well as a growing literature documenting the immediate impacts of access to electricity via SHS upon issues as diverse as health, education, security, access to information/communications and income. What is clear, however, is that, whilst a household undoubtedly gains developmental benefits from purchasing or hiring an SHS (removing the air pollution caused by kerosene lamps, providing light for children or other members of the household to study, enhanced security, access to information etc.), the degree to which this addresses the poverty of the members of the household and, for example, their ability to generate income is far less clear. In fact, the evidence tends to suggest that it does not and in some cases actually imposes additional financial burdens. In addition, the economic advantages of SHS over other means of accessing lighting and electricity for running small appliances especially for low-scale users is not yet proven and the costs of SHS still put it beyond the pockets of many of the poorest.

Within this context, the research team behind this proposal has developed the concept of Solar Nano-grids as one potential way of addressing some of the limitations of SHS. The nano-grid concept is based on the idea of the SHS, where the basic electricity needs of the households are met, but at the same time it proposes the incoorporation of some small scale agricultural or industrial applications (like irrigation). This takes advantage of the fact that houses are frequently clustered together in rural areas in groups of 15-20 houses within a diameter of less than 150m. In the proposed nano-grid system, a basic, say 1.5 to 3kWp, PV system is installed in a small cluster of households within a short radius of each other (ideally 60-70m) and power is distributed to the households from this system.

This whole project has been designed as an expressly inter-disciplinary project bringing together social scientists and engineers to work together across all work packages in the project. The basic rationale for the methodology is to begin with a thorough review of current knowledge in this field relating to (i) existing experiences with community-based energy systems of the kind of magnitude envisioned in this project and (ii) the technical and socio-economic literature dealing with small-scale grid-connected solar projects and their outcomes. This will then be followed by detailed work in the two county contexts (the project will be developed in Kenya and Bangladesh, two countries with particularly well developed SHS markets) exploring experiences amongst communities with different levels of experience with SHS programmes, with very different economic or environmental characteristics etc. This will lead to confirmation of the four specific communities where nano-grid projects will be installed. This will be followed by extensive consultation within the chosen communities, the design of the system and agreement over the business model to be employed and the eventual installation and operation of the nano-grids themselves and a two year process of observation and evaluation.

Fundamentally, this project is designed to enhance the impacts of the deployment of small-scale solar energy technologies amongst poor rural communities across the developing world through the novel idea of solar nano-grids. In particular it is targeted at enhancing the ability of small-scale solar technologies to provide real economic opportunities for communities to engage in income-generating activities as well as enjoying the social, healht and lifestyle improvements that solar home systems offer. Whilst the project will have a direct impact on the iives of community members within the four communities where the nano-grids are installed, we also aim, through our impact strategy, to have a wider impact upon the range of bodies working in the renewable energy sector within both country contexts and beyond.

We will provide the wider academic community and International Policy-Makers with new empirical insight into the energy use patterns of poor communities in different parts of the developing world and new understandings of the wider community impacts of the evolution of solar home systems and the potential of solar nano-grids to provide wider social and economic benefits.

We will provide policy-Makers and Other Stakeholders in Bangladesh and Kenya with new understanding of patterns of energy use on a daily and seasonal basis and new evidence on the wider community impacts of the diffusion of solar home systems within each country, as well country-specific evaluation of the potential of Solar Nano-Grids to provide wider benefits to the wider rural community than via existing Solar Home System provision. We will also provide illustration of the importance of detailed and careful community consultation to the successful outcome of community-based energy projects.

The results will also key into on-going work by the Department for International Development (DFID) on the applicability and potential of green mini-grids. The findings from this project will be able to help inform some investment decisions, helping to enhance the value for money of UK government international assistance in this area.