Utilization of solar energy for electrical power supply in rural African areas

Abstract

Huge African areas are not supplied with electrical energy. This group of population is cut off from any infrastructure which would support their life and development very effective (communication, information, health care). It is the aim of the project to introduce solar power supply to these areas. Commercial solar power supply system's turned out to be too cost intensive and cannot be maintained and fixed by local technicians. Based on a cooperation between a Zambian and an Austrian University a solar power supply system was designed. The results show that with a comparatively low effort a basic level power supply can be established with a very simple system architecture which is open for any manipulation and maintenance in Africa. The system can be extended according to any growing power demand. A combination of different solar module types is possible since a micro maximum power point tracking device was designed.