Optimal Sizing and Assessment of Standalone Photovoltaic Systems for Community Health Centers in Mali

Abstract

Despite abundant solar resources, Mali has remained one of the least electrified countries in the world. Besides daily life activities and the economy, the shortage of electricity has severely affected the quality of healthcare services in the country. In the absence of electrical grids, standalone photovoltaic (PV) systems could be an alternative option in Mali for the electrification of isolated community health centers. However, because standalone PV systems are highly weather-dependent, they must be properly sized according to the local weather conditions. This paper presents the optimal sizing of standalone PV systems for the electrification of community health centers in Mali. The optimization for PV systems was performed for five different locations through simulation and modeling using PVsyst, considering the autonomy of 1 to 3 days and the probability of loss of load for 1 to 5%. Furthermore, for the economic analysis, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), payback period and return on investment for the standalone PV systems were calculated. Through the optimization, it was found that the standalone PV systems with PV array sizes ranging from 1650 to 2400 watts, along with 606 Ah battery storage, would be suitable to supply the daily energy demand for community health centers anywhere in the country. Moreover, by only replacing the 606 Ah battery storage with 1212 Ah and 1818 Ah sizes, the PV systems would be able to help and keep the energy reserves for 2 and 3 autonomous days, respectively. Furthermore, the results show that in comparison to a LCOE of 0.94–0.98 USD/kWh for a diesel generator, the LCOE for the standalone PV system would range from 0.23 to 0.46 USD/kWh without discounted rates and from 0.33 to 0.60 USD/kWh if discounted at 6%. In addition to a lower LCOE, the saving of 46–76 tons of CO2 during the project’s lifespan, the short payback periods and high return of investment (ROI) values make standalone PV systems a suitable electrification option for Mali. Considering the total expenses, LCOE, payback period, and ROI, standalone PV systems for community health centers were found to be economically viable in all cases for Mali.