PV power system sizing for information and communication devices in schools outside the utility grid

摘要

Photovoltaic (PV) power systems play an important role as an alternative power source to the national utility grid. A lot of rural schools in South Africa lie outside the utility grid which hinders the provision of information communication systems and widens the technological divide. There is, therefore need for the exploration of the possibility of using PV systems to provide the much needed power in order to support information and communication systems in these remote areas. This paper presents a cost-aware bottom-up (COBU) approach to PV system sizing. In this study, the COBU approach was used to size a medium scale PV power system for desktop computers and internet devices. The system was installed and monitored and preliminary results are discussed as well in this paper.