5th International Students Science Congress

Proceedings

Rural Electrification with Solar Powered Mini-Grids and Stand-Alone Solar

System Installations: Case of Somalia

Abdiaziz Hussein Abdi* , Hasan Zorlu

Erciyes University, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Kayseri, Turkey
*Corresponding author: abziizhs@gmail.com

Abstract
Access to electricity still remains a distant dream in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In the energy
sector, Somalia is one of the most underdeveloped in the region. Especially in rural areas, the rate of
electrification is the lowest with the high cost of power, for electricity generation, Somalia depends on
imported petroleum products, and cooking relies on biomass resources, and only a small fraction of the
population has safe, reliable, and affordable energy services. Generally, the population in rural areas is
composed of a high percentage of poor households and low population density. For this reason, there
are not attractive economic benefits for electricity supply utilities or private investors to offer electricity
services to these villages. So, this work presented technical and economic challenges for introducing
solar-powered mini-grid and stand-alone solar system installations in Somalia's rural areas. Solar-
powered mini-grid and stand-alone solar system have been considered for supplying an electrical load
in a rural area.to design an off-grid system a well-known freeware HOMER modeling tool has been
used. To supply electricity directly to the load solar energy is considered as the primary source and when
excess generation happens a battery bank is considered for electrical storage. During the design of this
power system the community's load has been suggested for lighting, fan, school, and health clinic
equipment load, television, radio, and the simulation and optimization of the system were done based
on the electrical load, sources of climatic data, the economics of the power components and other
parameters. Finally, a solar-powered mini-grid is developed for a collection of communities and a
standalone solar system for clustered buildings is also developed. For further research, the limitations,
availability, and areas have also been identified.

Keywords: rural electrificatıon, HOMER model, mini gird, solar, standalone solar system

Introduction
More than 1.3 billion people worldwide still do not have access to electricity, and more than 95%
of them they are located in sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia, and about 2.6 billion people rely
on traditional ( like diesel and others) energy. This causes air pollution and has serious potential health
effects. When used on a conventional stove. According to the latest report, 84% of the total The Somalia
population lives without electricity. Our country is trying to meet the current energy demand; problems
in the coming years associated with it, it will increase significantly in the coming decades to meet the
growth need. Population and economy, changing lifestyles and evolving consumption, current pressure
on the limited natural resources resource. These challenges become particularly critical. In countries
experiencing accelerated transformation and rapid economic growth, or a country where a large part of
the population does not have access to modern energy. Global energy Demand is expected to increase
by more than a third in the period to 2035 and Electricity demand is expected to increase by 70% [1].
According to a report in Somalia, only 16% of the population in Somalia has access to electricity
and one of the highest electricity costs worldwide those with access to electricity mostly live in rural
areas, have the lowest electrification rate in the region and the world [2].
However, it is to use renewable energy such as solar powered generation to provide modern energy,
economical and environmentally friendly electrical energy to those in need. Rural areas can be
electrified using renewable technologies such as a solar photovoltaic. In this study, a Rural
Electrification with Solar Powered Mini-Grids and Stand-Alone Solar System Installations, which will
replace the existing conventional diesel generator electricity source, is designed and modeled.

©2021 ISSC https://doi.org/10.52460/issc.2021.026 1

Abdi, Zorlu 5th International Students Science Congress

Case Study
Initially, the target village for this study is Laas Geel (Dacar-budhuq); it is located in the north-
western part of the Horn of Africa, about 50 km outside the capital Hargeisa Somaliland / Somalia. It’s
a rural area with a historical background one of the most important rock art sites in the Horn of Africa.
In this village there are 100 households, to be precise 560 peoples living. The geographical location of
the Laas Geel village, Maroodi jeex, Somalia at Latitude: 9° 35' 59.99" N and Longitude: 44° 06' 60.00"
E with an altitude of 950 meters above sea level makes it a relatively sun-rich region as in Somalia gets
an annual solar irradiance on average per year about 2,900 to 3,100 hours of sunlight the total daily
radiation of Somalia is one of the highest in the world (RCREEE in 2015). This implies that electrifying
this rural village with solar energy systems would be very efficient. The monthly average radiation of
Laas Geel was taken from HOMER, this software uses NASA satellite data and by entering the latitude
(9 35' N) and longitude (44° 06' E) of this location in Homer’s solar input window; see Figure 1. The
average monthly radiation of the location shows the solar radiation steady availability in the whole year
and 6.4 kW h/m2/day is the yearly solar average radiation. Therefore, this solar radiation qualifies that
solar-powered mini-grids and standalone solar home systems are the considerable alternative sources to
electrify this rural area.

Figure1. Monthly average solar global horizontal irradiance (GH) data of Laas Geel

Electrical Load Estimation

General considerations
In our design, the major phase is to determine or estimate daily load demand of the village and one
household as sample. So, the design approach of array sizing calculations is based on the location
climatic data, system parameters and their efficiency, the valued output performance of PV modules,
and so on. The daily electrical load of a usual rural village in sub-Saharan Africa requires a elementary
load, such as lamps, radio, a TV set, refrigeration systems for vaccine, and water pumping. In this study,
the electrical power energy of the village can be generally dived into three major classes like domestic,
public center, and other public uses. One of the significant data sets is the load profile in each hour to
design a standalone solar power system for the township. So, for analysis, four load profiles have been
considered, namely:
• Loads in the night (household/domestic), for example, indoor lighting, a TV set, and street
lighting.
• Load in the daytime, for example, pumping of the water
• Continuous load demand, for example, freezing
• Adjustable load demands, for example, radio
Collecting load data from the users is important in order to set the load profile of the village or the
township. Unfortunately, always the customer in the rural don’t understand or they know about energy
consumption and costs [3].
Mainly in rural areas, the choice of the system voltage can be either direct current (DC) or alternating
current (AC) dependent on a number of restrictions.
Table 1 shows the total load of the village.

2
Abdi, Zorlu 5th International Students Science Congress

Table 1. Total load of the village

Required Power used
Number of Total power Total power
Categories power per day
domestics (kW) kwh/day
(kW) kW/h/day
Residential 100 1.728 172.8 13.94 1394
Medical center 1 1.125 1.125 17.5 17.5
Primary school 1 2.73 2.73 12.36 12.36
Administration post 1 0.585 0.585 3.87 3.87
Commercial 2 2.336 4.672 49.62 99.24
Mosque 1 0.93 0.93 2.760 2.760
Control room 1 0.344 0.344 5.520 5.520
Public use 1 1.120 1.120 7.920 7.920
Total 108 184.306 1543.17

Figure 2 shows the daily load including peak load and annual average load.

Figure 2. Daily load curve of the village

HOMER Modeling
System configuration
The system consists of PV panels for the conversion of sunlight to electric energy, inverter for the
conversion of direct current to alternating current for powering of the AC loads. Also, it contains battery
for electricity storage. Here, the modeling principles are analyzed mathematically, and the concept is
then developed using model HOMER software analysis. In the simulation, solar and the storage batteries
are considered. After simulations, different combinations were created and the most appropriate design
was selected by evaluating environmental factors such as CO2 emissions and the potential of resources,
and cost. All components are connected to the AC line. Components that generate AC electricity can be
connected directly to the AC line, or an AC / DC converter may be required for a fixed component
bonding topology.
Simulation: This system compares the load demand and energy supply in 1 hour out of 8,760 hours.
During this time, it decides to use the incoming load or to run batteries.
Optimization: The purpose of optimization is to determine the optimum system according to the
variables decided by the designer. HOMER software; The PV cell size may include variables such as
the battery quantity.
Sensitivity analysis: The optimization process is repeated after the sensitive parametric variables are
specified as an input in the software. Sensitivity variables; climatic data variations and components can
be fuel cost, interest rate, capacity shortage, sensitive reserves to be processed, and other factors.
HOMER performs multiple optimizations using various precision inputs to see how sensitive the power
system is. Incoming sensitivity results can also be displayed in the form of charts and graphs [4].

Figure 3. Display of sensitivity results

3
Abdi, Zorlu 5th International Students Science Congress

Sizing of Mini grid PV and Stand-Alone solar Power Systems

Sizing the system means when we are computing the size of the Mini-grid photo voltaic array and
the battery storage that is essential to supply the critical loads. An irradiation profile and an
approximation or record of the load demand calculations are required for the application. It’s important
to size the system because oversized PV/battery is expensive to install while undersized of the system
cannot deliver the required power and this can lead to the battery excessive discharge, higher operating
costs, and shortened battery life. For this reasons system sizing accurately is important and the aims of
sizing are: at the design location based on the climate data to regulate the finest corresponding among
the Mini-grid PV array’s size and the storage system size or the battery to maintenance the design load
and also correct the efficient equivalent of the components in the other hand system sizing provides the
battery cycling environment this allows the battery to get good service environment. In practice, if a
solar power system is under or over-sized it is often hard to tell and the effect to detect will not be easy
[5]. An over-sizing of PV Mini-grid will lead to increase system costs, while if there is an under-sized
of the system, the system will not supply the power required and it leads that the batteries will be
undercharge, and also to an unacceptable failures of the system. If the system is not sized well the system
will face some problems for example components in the system may not match each other, there can be
extreme load demand according to the design load, degradation, and unsuitable battery or array. Because
of these difficulties system sizing and designing is important so HOMER software is used for sizing
systems correctly as you can see above in system configuration. These soft wares have the benefits like,
the climatic data for the last years which can be used for the simulation as input data, the data of solar
irradiation in the location, and also the size of solar panel and the size of the battery storage are available
in this software [6].

Figure 4. Standalone solar system circuit diagram [6]

Array size and Total Panel Requirements Calculation:

total daily load(kW/day)

Array load = (1)
battery efficiency×charge regulator efficiency

Note: All calculations are taken randomly

500
Array load = = 700𝐾𝑊/𝑑𝑎𝑦 (2)
0.8×0.9

4
Abdi, Zorlu 5th International Students Science Congress

array load(kWh)
Array size = (3)
No.of peak hours ×mismatch factor

700
Array size = = 200kW/day (4)
4.2 ×0.85

The array which can deliver 200kWp/day will be required.

no.minal system voltage (V)

No. of series modules = (5)
no.minal module voltage(V)

220
No. of series modules = = 18 (6)
12

daily load demand(WH)

No. of parallel modules = (7)
module daily output(WH)

daily load(Ah)
No. of series modules = (8)
battery charging efficiency× module ×derating

500000/220(Ah)
No. of series modules = = 200 (9)
0.8×0.85×17.43

Total number of series and parallel panels = 18 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 × 200𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑙 = 3600 (10)

Sizing of Battery
The bank of batteries is selected based upon the connected load and the availability of batteries in
the market.

daily load(Ah)×reserve days

Battery capacity = (11)
max allowable depth of discharge(DOD) × temperature derate ×rate factor

𝑁𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒

No. of Series Batteries = (12)
Nominal battery voltage

𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦

No. of parallel Batteries = (13)
𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦

Solar powered Mini grid for Remote Rural Areas:

Solar powered mini grids have a significant impact in rural areas, it can combine two or more
renewable energy resources and can meet up the power requirement while this study is based on just a
Solar system this can just DC because it is less costly than AC grids station which includes those
expensive Transformers and reactors.
By comparing DC grids with the AC grids, DC have many benefits over AC ones, just with the one
condition that load must not be far away from the grid station.
1. DC systems have nothing to do with the synchronization, so it is easy to integrate more
renewable energy resources.
2. They have high productivity and high reliability.
3. Less expensive than AC grids
4. Safe and easy to control.
Generally, utilities like to use solar power, in renewable energy case, as they are abundant in nature
and also, they are environment friendly, no consumption of fuel and are less expensive [7].

Economic Analysis
Solar-based systems are regularly measured by way of a clean energy resolution that is approachable
to the environment, though, solar-based systems are initially expensive and have financial issues. The
solar-based system may pay back its venture and have additional earnings if there is actual design and
operation. According to other types of generations, some of the solar-based systems have lower costs.
Economic analysis is important in order to decide the cost and value of solar systems like solar-powered
mini-grid and stand-alone solar home systems. Initial cost comprises the phase of design, devices,
installation and engineering of the solar-based system. Shortly we can summarize the economic
expenses like initial costs, repair costs, maintenance costs, and replacement costs. According to the
5
Abdi, Zorlu 5th International Students Science Congress

results that we found from the HOMER software the initial cost of the system is $53,781 and net present
cost is $4,792 and also the values of equipment are obtained from sellers or manufacturer and also the
components used in the thesis were estimates taken from international assessments from well-known
online solar PV inquiry companies such as Genentech Media Inc, Solar Server (an online portal to solar
energy), and Solar buzz (solar market research and analysis). The following two pictures show cost
summary of the system.

Simulation Result, Discussion and Conclusion

HOMER Software displays the optimization results are generated in two forms; an overall form in
which the top ranked system configurations are listed according to their net present cost (NPC) and in a
categorized form where only the least cost system configuration is considered for each system type.
Figures 5 and 6 are part of simulation results which shows that using this method of electrification is
good and appropriate remote areas in Somalia.

Figure 5. Monthly average electric production

Figure 6. PV output of the system

The draft procedure developed touches on some very important issues to be considered in the design
of the regional- scale mini-grid connected solar PV systems using a solar field. Notable among these
design steps are the assessment of the solar radiation data for the location, the identification and
assessment of the size of the field used, selection of solar PV system components and finally, designing
the layout of the mini-grid connected PV system [8]. According to our simulation results this systems is
suitable for rural electrification in Somalia also this system is economical and we recommend to
implement this study for electrification in whole the country.
This section lists the main contributions of the work: A detailed HOMER economic software model
of Solar Mini-Grids and Standalone Solar Systems to be used for rural electrification. Case study of
solar-powered mini-grid and stand-alone solar home system which can apple applicable for rural areas
in same the proposed system or mini-grid could be a useful technology for less developing countries.
Future research should also examine the following topics: More accurate data on the cost of renewable

6
Abdi, Zorlu 5th International Students Science Congress

energy components should be obtained. A computer with a high processing power for optimization,
especially for the analysis of cases that require high precision.

References
[1] Connor R. The United Nations World Water Development Report, United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, 2014.
[2] World Energy Outlook (WEO, 2017), Electricity Access Database [Online]. Available:
https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/WEO2017SpecialReport_EnergyA
ccessOutlook.pdf
[3] "Energy and the challenge of sustainability" (PDF). “United Nations Development Programmed
and World Energy Council”, September 2000. Retrieved August 2015.
[4] Habibullah M. Rüzgâr-Fotovoltaik-Biyogaz Hibrit Güç Sistemlerinin Akıllı Mikro Şebekelerde
Kullanımının Kontrol ve Dizaynı, 2016. Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Ege Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri
Enstitüsü.
[5] African Development Bank, Somalia Energy Sector Needs Assessment and Investment
Programme, African Dev. Bank, 2015, [Online]. Available:
https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Generic-Documents/Final_Somalia_
Energy_Sector_Needs_Assessment_FGS__AfDB_November_2015.pdf
[6] Khatib T. (2010). A review of designing, installing and evaluating standalone photovoltaic power
systems. Journal of Applied Sciences (Faisalabad), 10(13), 1212-1228.
[7] Thomas DR, Urpelainen J. Early electrification and the quality of service: Evidence from rural
India, Energy Sustain. Dev., 44, 11–20, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.esd.2018.02.004.
[8] Vernet A, Khayesi JNO, George V, George G, Bahaj AS. How does energy matter? Rural
electrification, entrepreneurship, and community development in Kenya,” Energy Policy, 2018
126 : 88–98, 2019. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2018.11.012.