The Long Road to Universal Electrification: A Critical Look at Present Pathways and Challenges
Nearly 840 million people still lack access to electricity, while over a billion more have an unreliable electricity connection. In this article, the three different electrification pathways—grid extension, centralized microgrids, and standalone solar-based solutions, such as pico-solar an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/3/508 |
| _version_ | 1797999999397658624 |
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| author | Nishant Narayan Victor Vega-Garita Zian Qin Jelena Popovic-Gerber Pavol Bauer Miro Zeman |
| author_facet | Nishant Narayan Victor Vega-Garita Zian Qin Jelena Popovic-Gerber Pavol Bauer Miro Zeman |
| author_sort | Nishant Narayan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Nearly 840 million people still lack access to electricity, while over a billion more have an unreliable electricity connection. In this article, the three different electrification pathways—grid extension, centralized microgrids, and standalone solar-based solutions, such as pico-solar and solar home systems (SHS)—are critically examined while understanding their relative merits and demerits. Grid extension can provide broad scale access at low levelized costs but requires a certain electricity demand threshold and population density to justify investments. To a lesser extent, centralized (off-grid) microgrids also require a minimum demand threshold and knowledge of the electricity demand. Solar-based solutions are the main focus in terms of off-grid electrification in this article, given the equatorial/tropical latitudes of the un(der-)electrified regions. In recent times, decentralized solar-based off-grid solutions, such as pico-solar and SHS, have shown the highest adoption rates and promising impetus with respect to basic lighting and electricity for powering small appliances. However, the burning question is—from lighting a million to empowering a billion—can solar home systems get us there?The two main roadblocks for SHS are discussed, and the requirements from the ideal electrification pathway are introduced. A bottom-up, interconnected SHS-based electrification pathway is proposed as the missing link among the present electrification pathways. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:13:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d38d561f08fb47e5a6f4d9a0549339f8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:13:17Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-d38d561f08fb47e5a6f4d9a0549339f82022-12-22T04:27:19ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732020-01-0113350810.3390/en13030508en13030508The Long Road to Universal Electrification: A Critical Look at Present Pathways and ChallengesNishant Narayan0Victor Vega-Garita1Zian Qin2Jelena Popovic-Gerber3Pavol Bauer4Miro Zeman5Department of Electrical Sustainable Energy, Delft University of Technology, 2600 Delft, The NetherlandsDepartment of Electrical Sustainable Energy, Delft University of Technology, 2600 Delft, The NetherlandsDepartment of Electrical Sustainable Energy, Delft University of Technology, 2600 Delft, The NetherlandsPower Electronics Group, University of Twente, 7500 Enschede, The NetherlandsDepartment of Electrical Sustainable Energy, Delft University of Technology, 2600 Delft, The NetherlandsDepartment of Electrical Sustainable Energy, Delft University of Technology, 2600 Delft, The NetherlandsNearly 840 million people still lack access to electricity, while over a billion more have an unreliable electricity connection. In this article, the three different electrification pathways—grid extension, centralized microgrids, and standalone solar-based solutions, such as pico-solar and solar home systems (SHS)—are critically examined while understanding their relative merits and demerits. Grid extension can provide broad scale access at low levelized costs but requires a certain electricity demand threshold and population density to justify investments. To a lesser extent, centralized (off-grid) microgrids also require a minimum demand threshold and knowledge of the electricity demand. Solar-based solutions are the main focus in terms of off-grid electrification in this article, given the equatorial/tropical latitudes of the un(der-)electrified regions. In recent times, decentralized solar-based off-grid solutions, such as pico-solar and SHS, have shown the highest adoption rates and promising impetus with respect to basic lighting and electricity for powering small appliances. However, the burning question is—from lighting a million to empowering a billion—can solar home systems get us there?The two main roadblocks for SHS are discussed, and the requirements from the ideal electrification pathway are introduced. A bottom-up, interconnected SHS-based electrification pathway is proposed as the missing link among the present electrification pathways.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/3/508rural electrificationsolar home systemsmicrogridssdg 7multi-tier framework |
| spellingShingle | Nishant Narayan Victor Vega-Garita Zian Qin Jelena Popovic-Gerber Pavol Bauer Miro Zeman The Long Road to Universal Electrification: A Critical Look at Present Pathways and Challenges Energies rural electrification solar home systems microgrids sdg 7 multi-tier framework |
| title | The Long Road to Universal Electrification: A Critical Look at Present Pathways and Challenges |
| title_full | The Long Road to Universal Electrification: A Critical Look at Present Pathways and Challenges |
| title_fullStr | The Long Road to Universal Electrification: A Critical Look at Present Pathways and Challenges |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Long Road to Universal Electrification: A Critical Look at Present Pathways and Challenges |
| title_short | The Long Road to Universal Electrification: A Critical Look at Present Pathways and Challenges |
| title_sort | long road to universal electrification a critical look at present pathways and challenges |
| topic | rural electrification solar home systems microgrids sdg 7 multi-tier framework |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/3/508 |
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