Perspective on International PV Challenge & Opportunities for Rural Development Page: 3 of 3
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possibility of micro-enterprise development coupled with
rapid expansion of e-commerce and advanced
telecommunications. Rural e-commerce can bring cash into
rural areas through access to global markets. Each element
of this strategy requires power. Most often, PV power.
4. New Analysis Tools for Rural Electrification
From a national electrification perspective, a suite of
new analysis tools are becoming available. Until now, rural
electrification relied on either grid extension or installation
of an isolated diesel engine-generator set. Now a suite of
new renewable technologies are becoming available, but the
tradeoffs and confusion about what is the best option to
pursue can quickly become overwhelming. Even the
analysis of retrofit options for rural diesel generators can be
a challenge.
Over the past 5 years, the NREL PV program has
contributed to the development of a family of computer-
based analysis tools that help simplify this problem.
HOMER (the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric
Renewables) is a design optimization model that determines
the configuration, dispatch, and load management strategy
that minimizes the life-cycle costs for a particular site and
application. It is fully functional to evaluate diesel-PV-
wind-battery technology options. Code development is
underway to include micro-hydro and biomass power.
ViPOR (the Village Power Optimization Model for
Renewables) optimizes the power distribution system for a
rural village and is being extended to assist with the
question: "When should I stop extending the power grid and
start considering village-scale hybrid power systems?"
Hybrid 2 is a tool designed to accurately predict the
long term performance of a wide variety of power systems
made up of conventional fuel generators, wind generators,
PV, and energy storage through batteries. It is an
engineering analysis tool that allows enormous system
configuration flexibility, and the inclusion of company and
model-specific technical characteristics.
These analysis tools are becoming increasingly
important to the NREL PV and wind international program
activities; programs which are now increasingly focused on
technical assistance to developing countries. This assistance
includes analysis of policy reforms, large scale project
preparation, training, resource assessment, and
implementation. Figure 2 depicts the multi-dimensional
aspects of the NREL international programs.
5. Pathways to the Future
As the global experience in rural renewables-based
rural electrification continues, it is increasingly apparent
that
" Technology availability, cost, performance, and
reliability are not the pacing issues, and
" Availability of project and program financing is not
the pacing issue.The pacing issues are clearly defining, developing and
implementing the product delivery and revenue collection
pathways. There must be a focus on sustainable energy
enterprises. A number of increasingly large scale
experiments focused on one or another of these sustainable
enterprise pathways are underway throughout the world.
Each pathway has its own pros and cons, which are different
in each country due to cultural, regulatory, policy,
financing, technical capability, and "starting point"
differences. Possible pathway options include
" Individual retailers and entrepreneurs
" Traditional rural electric cooperatives
" Local village-based power associations
" Rural energy services companies
" Private voluntary organizations
Additionally, some of these pathways lend themselves to a
possible franchise model (a "McSolar" type concept), and
some may benefit from the concept of rural-geographic
concessions that grant the exclusive right-to-serve in return
for meeting certain responsibilities (like "universal access").
While we do not yet know which of these approaches will
eventually dominate, we do know that the successful
approaches will operate efficiently in both
" The delivery of high quality services (for a variety
of applications ranging from homes to school to
health clinics to local businesses), and
" They will find a way to effectively collect
revenues, probably on a fee-for-service basis.
The wide range of services helps meet the business-density
requirement, and the fee-for-service approach decouples the
revenue from the traditional, often subsidized, low-
perceived-cost kWh approach.
For those that figure out how to effectively meet these
criteria in a manner that can be replicable and locally
sustainable there are huge market opportunities for PV and
other renewable technologies throughout the developing
world
Goals & Objectives
o Strategic
cFC 4 ao% V aPartners
Activities , . f US-AID & US-EPA
MDBs & UN System, Donors
-. U.S. & foreign NGOs
Policy Country partners
Private Sector
Technology
Markets
Policy Technology Markets
Regulatory Reform Resource Assessment Market Opportunity Assessment
Financing Technology Options Analysis Financing/Revenue Collection
Rural Concessions Applications Options Training & Capacity Building
Subsidy Rationalization Training & Capacity Building Sustainable Delivery Mechanisms
Legal Systems Joint Ventures/Value Added
Program Design & Implementation
Fig. 2. The NREL International Programs Activities Cube2
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Taylor, R. W. Perspective on International PV Challenge & Opportunities for Rural Development, article, January 1, 2000; Golden, Colorado. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc887997/m1/3/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.