Technical Performances and Socio-Economic Impacts of Mini Solar Systems in Rural Area (Niger)

Abstract

Regarding the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation for a sustainable energy and energy efficiency, the use of renewable and clean energy becomes increasingly paramount. Thus, many solar energy rural programs are set up throughout the world. However, due to environmental and meteorological conditions, installed PV systems efficiency mostly depends on the geographical location. Therefore, technical performances of a mini PV platform in Sarando Bené village have been assessed with the design criteria for better performance needs. CR1000 data logger, pyranometer, flow and water meters, panel meters (V-meters, A-meters meters) have been used to measure solar radiation current and voltage in order to determine solar radiation, I-V curves, energy demand, efficiency, performance ratio (PR), etc. Temperature sensors have been used to assess respectively ambient and back panels’ temperatures. While in order to evaluate PV systems impacts on rural population, social and economic data from field survey (qualitative and quantitative) and from Niger Institute of Statistic (INS) have also been collected and used. The obtained results show that solar pump and electricity generator perform well in the rural area. However, the study reveals that a mixture of different and contrasted solar panels lead to high loss of efficiency (up to 28% and 64% respectively for the two types), as the panels functioning point is not the expected one. A bad battery wiring together with charge controller and inverter leads to an untimely worn out of the battery (less than 18 months versus the five expected years). A bad sizing of the solar pump in a relationship with the borehole depth also induces a low-performance ratio (up to 50%). The second series of results is as surprising as the first one. It shows at what scale solar energy is currently used in Niger, almost without any meaningful support from the government. The result is that almost everybody uses solar energy system in the studied area, for education, health, lighting and other social and economic purposes. These results will, of course, help policymakers and stakeholders to enhance technical support as well as socioeconomic measures to boost solar selfelectrification in rural and urban off-grid areas.