Sizing of solar DC microgrid for sustainable off-grid communities: Economics, policies and societal implications

Nearly 30% of the world's population does not have access to electricity. In India, more than 300 million people do not have access to grid power. In view of providing reliable electricity to these people, renewable energy solutions with storage are becoming popular. In areas were the cost of bringing the conventional grid is high, off-grid solutions are being implemented. While designing solar PV systems for rural communities, sizing of the solar PV module and battery storage becomes crucial and plays an important role in determining the overall cost of the project, Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE), reliability of supply and battery life. Also, using a DC microgrid system reduces the overall losses and energy consumption to meet the same needs. In this paper, sizing of solar PV module and battery storage for a village in India has been done using HOMER software. The size of the system majorly depends on the solar radiation available in that location, energy usage pattern and the criticality of the load to be met. The analysis done shows that the LCOE obtained for the PV-battery system is almost on par with the grid electricity prices. The current situation calls for revision of the policies, subsidies and incentives in two years from now.