AI SearchA techno-economic analysis of photovoltaic systems in the Maldives
Call Number: AIT Thesis no.ET-96-20 Material type:
SeriesSeries: Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. ET-96-20Publication details: Bangkok : Asian Institute of Technology, 1996Description: 82 leaves + 1 online resourceSubject(s): Online resources: Dissertation note: Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1996 Summary: Maldives is an island nation consisting of 1190 coral islands in the Indian Ocean separate from the Asia mainland with a population of about 245000. The main source of income is from tourism and fisheries. At present, Maldives imports all her commercial energy and therefore is vulnerable to external oil shocks. The current method of electricity generation in all the islands is using diesel generating systems. This study represents an analysis to investigate the possibility of introducing solar photovoltaic systems for atoll island electrification projects. The availability of solar radiation is analyzed for the design of photovoltaic systems. A method is proposed to estimate the solar radiation data for locations where measured solar radiation data is not available. For the case of Maldives, this method has been applied to estimate the solar insolation. Photovoltaic systems for applications such as centralized generating systems, single household systems, hybrid systems and water pumping systems are designed using optimum algorithms for such designs available in literature. The electricity demand for these systems were obtained from a survey carried out in a model island. The generating alternatives designed in the study have been economically compared with the present method of electricity generation. The analysis indicate that, though the photovoltaic generating systems at current market price of PV modules are expensive, due to the expected price reductions in PV modules by the year 1997, photovoltaic systems will become much cheaper with sepcific cost of generation of US$ 0.29/kWh as compared to diesel generating systems with a specific cost of generation of US$ 0.34/kWh. A survey conducted for this study shows that at present, the general Maldivian is relatively unaware of the potential use and drawbacks of the PV technology. The country lacks infrastructure to reliably measure solar radiation data and expertise in this field is lacking.
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A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering
Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1996
Maldives is an island nation consisting of 1190 coral islands in the Indian Ocean separate from the Asia mainland with a population of about 245000. The main source of income is from tourism and fisheries. At present, Maldives imports all her commercial energy and therefore is vulnerable to external oil shocks. The current method of electricity generation in all the islands is using diesel generating systems. This study represents an analysis to investigate the possibility of introducing solar photovoltaic systems for atoll island electrification projects. The availability of solar radiation is analyzed for the design of photovoltaic systems. A method is proposed to estimate the solar radiation data for locations where measured solar radiation data is not available. For the case of Maldives, this method has been applied to estimate the solar insolation. Photovoltaic systems for applications such as centralized generating systems, single household systems, hybrid systems and water pumping systems are designed using optimum algorithms for such designs available in literature. The electricity demand for these systems were obtained from a survey carried out in a model island. The generating alternatives designed in the study have been economically compared with the present method of electricity generation. The analysis indicate that, though the photovoltaic generating systems at current market price of PV modules are expensive, due to the expected price reductions in PV modules by the year 1997, photovoltaic systems will become much cheaper with sepcific cost of generation of US$ 0.29/kWh as compared to diesel generating systems with a specific cost of generation of US$ 0.34/kWh. A survey conducted for this study shows that at present, the general Maldivian is relatively unaware of the potential use and drawbacks of the PV technology. The country lacks infrastructure to reliably measure solar radiation data and expertise in this field is lacking.
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