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2920 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 33, NO. 3, MAY 2018
I. INTRODUCTION
CCESS to electricity even at basic levels increases pro- small container based solar solutions on 12 V and 24 V are also
A ductivity and provides opportunities for economic devel-
opment. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA),
being readily utilized in Africa [12], [13], [21].
While these (and other similar low voltage low power) sys-
more than 500 million occupants in South Asia (India, Pakistan tems are becoming popular for off-grid rural electrification, for-
and Bangladesh) and further 500 million in Africa have no ac- mal analysis on optimal component sizing and loss evaluation
cess to any form of electricity [1]. These occupants have to rely is not addressed in the literature. Generic microgrid systems
on unhealthy resources, like kerosene oil, even for lighting pur- planned without taking the regional characteristics in to consid-
poses and the use of these fuels have many documented adverse eration are significantly oversized and are not a good fit for all
effects [2]. Unfortunately, most of these people do not have a environments and regions. Thus, for DC microgrids, there is a
choice in this regard. The major source of electricity i.e., the grid need to plan efficient distribution schemes based upon the de-
is unviable for many of these isolated villages and large upfront tailed loss analysis along with quantification of optimal system
costs of electrification through national grids are prohibitively sizing incorporating local conditions for overall cost minimiza-
high for most of these developing countries [3], [4]. Therefore, a tion and enhanced system utilization.
paradigm shift towards powering these villages through low cost This paper therefore focuses on optimal planning and design
(and consequently low-power) distributed renewable resources of low-voltage off-grid DC microgrids with local PV genera-
such as solar PV is seen in recent years [4]–[7]. Such microgrid tion and storage for low-power provisioning. Various critical
systems are primarily based on DC distribution due to an in- parameters that affect the optimal sizing of system components
herent advantage in terms of an increased operational efficiency are identified and analyzed for optimal system assessment. In
and economic viability for many remote locations where the grid order to analyze the impact of distribution architecture on op-
is unavailable or highly intermittent [8]–[10]. These integrated timal component sizing, we related distribution losses to actual
systems also have a better levelized cost of electricity compared structure of the village and spatial distribution of houses in it.
to standalone systems as it takes advantage of usage diversity at Two possible architectures of DC distribution (O-architecture
a village scale [5]. Therefore, the focus for rural electrification and C-architecture) have been analyzed for power flow and
has been shifted to off-grid electrification through low-cost solar associated distribution losses. So, our first contribution lies in
DC microgrids [5], [6], [11]. quantification of distribution losses with respect to distribution
Numerous Mini- or Micro- grids of capacities ranging from architectures in line with common settlements in South Asia.
1 kWp to 200 kWp have been proposed in the literature [7], Our second contribution lies in the detailed analysis (and
[12]–[16]. Low power microgrids generally provide low power assessment) of various locations in India, (given in Table I) from
provision of a few watts to a few tens of watts per home as optimal cost, component sizing and distribution architecture
compared to high power microgrids which allow provisions of planning perspective. It has been identified that optimal sizing of
several hundred watts or higher. Prominent practical implemen- the system components is highly dependent upon region-specific
tations for low-cost rural electrification include micro solar PV time varying profile of irradiance and temperature throughout
plants (referred as microgrids) in India including Chhattisgarh, the year. Unfortunately, it is a common practice to use mean
Sunderbans and Lakshadweep [15], [17]. However, the most values of regional irradiance and temperature for system sizing
common commercial scale microgrid is the Mera Gao Power which may lead to in accurate system sizing [22], [23].
(MGP) in India which provides 5 W of DC electricity to each Our third and major contribution is the formulation of the
subscribing house in a village, for only 8-hrs per day, enough to optimization framework for the selection of microgrid compo-
power an LED light and a mobile-phone charging point. MGP nents, including PV generation capacity (kWp ), battery storage
has reportedly connected over 10,000 households spread across capacity (kWh) and distribution conductor sizing (AWG) for
400 villages [16], [18]. In 2012, Uttar Pradesh and Renewable minimum cost solution. To the best of our knowledge, optimal
Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA), installed 1 kW DC planning of system components for DC Microgrids considering
microgrids in 11 districts covering around 4,000 houses [19]. the impact of distribution architecture has not been presented
Another, recent successfully deployment in Africa includes up to in literature and we believe that it will be highly beneficial
600 W microgrids providing lighting and mobile phone charg- for future DC microgrid deployments. Further, quantification
ing typically up to 10 W for 8-hr daily operation [20]. Other of losses for distribution architectures with spatial arrangement
NASIR et al.: OPTIMAL PLANNING AND DESIGN OF LOW-VOLTAGE LOW-POWER SOLAR DC MICROGRIDS 2921
N
y =1 gxy ;∀x = y
The output from PV panels is processed through MPPT Gxy = (5)
−gxy ; ∀ x = y
DC/DC converter which incurs losses in PPSU along with fur-
ther DC/DC losses at the distribution panel of each house (see
Fig. 3). The efficiency of a typical DC-DC converter varies sig- This G-matrix can be used to calculate Ploss and worst voltage
nificantly at low power levels (percentage loading). However, dip (VD) as discussed in our earlier work [36], [37] and are given
NASIR et al.: OPTIMAL PLANNING AND DESIGN OF LOW-VOLTAGE LOW-POWER SOLAR DC MICROGRIDS 2923
by (6) and (7). Since the battery lifetime is dependent upon its depth of dis-
N N
charge (DOD), therefore, energy level of the battery EB (t) at
1 any time t is not allowed to go below its minimum energy level
Ploss = Gxy [Vx (Vx − Vy ) + Vy (Vy − Vx )] (6)
2 x=1 y =1 dictated by allowable minimum state of charge SOCm in .
N
ΔEB = EB (t) − EB (t − 1) = ηB ES B (t) − EB L (t) ; ∀T
ηMP S (t) Δt = ηB ΔEB (t) + ηi Pi (t) Δt + Ploss (t) Δt (13)
i=1
(8) The constraints on load are defined by (14) such that load de-
mand must always be fulfilled either through battery or solar PV
Where, ηMP is the efficiency of DC/DC converter employed output. For constant household power loading scenario as dis-
at PPSU responsible for maximum power point tracking, bat- cussed in the current scope of the work, converter efficiency ηi is
tery charging and maintenance of distribution voltage and ηi is considered constant. Therefore, linearization of load constraints
the efficiency of DC/DC converter employed at the distribution does not result in any significant loss of accuracy. However, in
panel of each house. Since battery may take energy from PV case of variable household loading, non-linear accurate mod-
panels or may supply power to the load at any time t depending els for converter efficiency need to be included for accurate
upon the net energy flux in the battery, ΔEB (t) can be positive estimations [35].
or negative. ΔEB (t) will be negative in durations of no solar
power generation and the stored energy in the battery will be N
T T
Pi (t)
used to meet the load demand. Δt + Ploss Δt = ES L (t) + EB L (t) ; ∀T
t=1 i=1
ηi t=1
Fig. 8. Optimal battery sizing of the system at 5 W loading on left Y- axis and
irradiance volatility factor on right Y- axis. (Case 1).
Fig. 7. Optimal PV panel sizing of the system at 5 W loading (Case 1). Kindly,
note that each data point on the figure represents a region shown in Table I. For
instance, the first data point (from left) is for Bihar where PSH is 4.992 and so
on. (Followed in all subsequent figures).
turn the overall cost of the system. For instance, in Fig. 8 it can
be seen that Kolkota with a relatively low PSH 5.06 (Table I)
compared to Banglore (PSH 5.4) requires lower battery size.
This is due to the reason that Kolkota has lower IVF (volatility
factor) compared to Banglore which directly translates into re-
duction in the battery size. Similarly, regions with higher IVF
require higher battery sizing despite of possibility of having high
mean irradiance. Therefore, the sizing of a PV system must in-
corporate the volatility of irradiance along with the mean values
for PSH.
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2928 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 33, NO. 3, MAY 2018
Mashood Nasir received the B.S. degree from the Hassan Abbas Khan received the B.Eng. degree in
University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, electronic engineering from the Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Pakistan, and the M.S. degree from the University of Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology,
Management and Technology (UMT), Lahore, Pak- Topi, Pakistan, in 2005, the M.Sc. (with distinction)
istan, in 2009 and 2011, respectively, both in electri- degree, and Ph.D. degree in electrical and electronic
cal engineering. He is currently working toward the engineering from the School of Electrical Engineer-
Ph.D. degree in the Department of Electrical Engi- ing, The University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K.
neering, Lahore University of Management Sciences, From 2005 to 2010, he was with the School of Elec-
Lahore, Pakistan. From 2011 to 2012, he was a Lec- trical Engineering, The University of Manchester. He
turer, and from 2013 to 2014, he was an Assistant is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department
Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department, of Electrical Engineering, Lahore University of Man-
UMT. His research interests include power electronics, electrical machines and agement and Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. His current research focuses on renew-
drives, grid integration of alternate energy resources, electrochemical energy able energy and its uptake in developing countries. His core focus is on novel
conversion and battery storage systems, ac/dc/hybrid microgrids, etc. grid architectures for low-cost rural electrification through solar energy. He is
also working on efficient and reliable solar PV deployments in urban settings to
maximize their performance ratios.
Saqib Iqbal received the B.E. degree from the Ghu-
lam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences
and Technology, Topi, Pakistan, in 2014, and the
M.S. degree from Lahore University of Management
and Sciences (LUMS), Lahore, Pakistan, in 2017,
both in electrical engineering. In 2017, he joined the
Syed Baber Ali School of Science and Engineering,
LUMS, as a Research Assistant. His research inter-
ests include smart grids, microgrids, and renewable
energy resources.