Energetica India Magazine nº88 March-April 2020

SOLAR POWER Developing Solar PV mini-grid projects- Key Design Considerations Despite the seemingly perfect answer that mini-grids seem to provide for eradication of poor electricity access that plagues rural areas in the country, there are certain challenges to development and replication of mini grid projects in India. The major issues were found to be related to design, installation and operation and maintenance including lack of skilled manpower to operate and maintain the mini-grids smoothly. 35 energetica INDIA- March-April_2020 India has taken numerous initiatives for achieving universal access to electricity through government sponsored schemes. The distribution infrastructure, however, is still characterized by low voltages and frequent power cuts in rural areas. In some cases, the distribution infrastructure has failed altogether or has been unable to reach the remotest parts of India. This is where minigrid systems come in as an ideal solution for supply of clean, affordable and reliable electricity in remote ar- eas where traditional grid is unable to reach or supply of power through power distribution network is erratic and inadequate to provide for personal and commercial needs of a large popula- tion in rural India. There are several thousand minigrid systems which have been installed in India through initiatives of the government, NGOs, funding agencies and private entrepreneurs. India’s corporate giant TATA Power and Rockefeller Foundation joined hands and recently launched a new program for rolling out 10,000 mini grid projects in India that would benefit around 5 million households. Why solar PV based mini-grid fails? Despite the seemingly perfect answer that mini-grids seem to pro- vide for eradication of poor electricity access that plagues rural areas in the country, there are certain challenges to development and replication of mini grid projects in India. In a recent in-depth study of over 300 mini-grid projects in India (that have been in- stalled and maintained by the government, NGOs and private entrepreneurs), it was found that only 60% of the systems were operational. Again, majority of these functional mini grid systems were performing inadequately. The major issues leading to failure or sub-par performance of the mini grid systems was found to be related to design, installation and operation and maintenance including lack of skilled manpower to operate and maintain the mini-grids smoothly. Global Sustainable Energy Solutions India Figure 1: A mini-grid system in Gumla, Jharkhand (Courtesy: MLINDA Foundation) Figure 2: Reasons for failure of solar PV based mini-grid projects In this article, we briefly discuss the key issues and consider - ations while designing a solar PV based mini-grid system.