In this paper, a photovoltaic stand-alone system for rural application in a developing country is described and discussed. The system is part of an initiative carried on by Ingegneria Senza Frontiere (Engineers Without Borders) to support the people of Dubarry, a small Afghani village, 20 km north of Kabul. The entire community accounts for 10 buildings housing a total of 100 people. The social and environmental situation has been heavily degraded during the last 20 years of continued war, which hasdisplaced away most of the community members. At present the area is not reached by any infrastructural network, andelectricity is not available. The community proposed the restoration of electricity as top priority in the cooperation projectbecause the presence of light, apart from the obvious practical fundamental advantages, witnesses the efforts of reconstruction.We show that in this case the choice of a PV stand-alone system is the most appropriate way for establishing a mini grid for thevillage in terms of logistics, maintenance, reliability, self-sufficiency, and overall costs. The operation and optimization of thePV stand-alone system was studied with the PVSYST software using the METEONORM data. The system supplies energy forthe internal and external lightsof 6 buildings and for a radio. A non-conventional means of storing energy is proposed, which is specifically intended to take advantage of the mechanical and manual labor skills available in the village, and to have people produce and manage their own energy. The installation of the PV-system, whose total cost can be estimated around 10.000 €, is only the first phase of the project.
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