Electrifying Lives with Community Empowerment

Abstract

This paper presents a framework for designing scalable and sustainable electrification solutions for off-grid electrification in energy deficient areas. A case study is presented on the development of a community microgrid solution in an energy deficient village on the Sumba island in Indonesia, based on the available renewable energy sources, batteries and a small diesel generator. The target of this off-grid solution is empowering the existing communities and development of new businesses. The microgrid solution also supports the basic community services (such as drinking water, schools, primary health centres) and household needs. This framework can be deployed in any community by customizing the type of energy sources and income generating loads according to the available resources. Validation of the proposed microgrid through simulation and test-bed emulation is reported. A solar microgrid implemented in this island is utilized to study the economic and social impact of electrification.