Development of a Model for Techno-economic Assessment of a Stand-alone Off-grid Solar Photovoltaic System in Bangladesh

Md. Mustafizur Rahman, A.K.M. Sadrul Islam, Sayedus Salehin, Md. Abdullah Al-Matin

Abstract


Electricity production by solar energy can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which is a big environmental concern around the globe especially in the countries like Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a small country in South Asia with a huge population. The country has many isolated areas that are not connected to the national grid. People living in those off-grid areas mainly use diesel generators that emit GHGs into the atmosphere contributing to global warming. Electricity production using solar energy can be an attractive alternative from economic and environmental perspective. The present study attempts to conduct a techno-economic assessment by developing a bottom-up data-intensive spread-sheet-based model. The model estimates the unit cost of electricity generated by a 3.40 kWp stand-alone solar photovoltaic system (PV) for an isolated locality in Char Godagari, Rajshahi. The island has geographical coordinates of 24°28'6"N and 88°19'25"E and is situated in Rajshahi district. The unit cost of electricity by solar energy was found to be $0.72/kWh or 55.47 Bangladeshi Taka (BDT)/kWh with a net present cost of $12,027.83 or BDT 926,142.55 for the selected location, Char Godagari. The results show that battery is the most expensive component of the solar PV system. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to see the impact of various input parameters on the unit cost of electricity.

Keywords


Solar photovoltaic; renewable energy; techno-economic; electricity generation; cost of electricity; Bangladesh

Full Text:

PDF

References


Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). [cited 2015 December 14]; Available from: http://www.bbs.gov.bd/PageWebMenuContent.aspx?MenuKey=243.

The World Bank. [cited 2015 December 14]; Available from: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS.

Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL). [cited 2015 December 14]; Available from: http://idcol.org/home/solar.

Power Cell, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Bangladesh. [cited 2015 December 18]; Available from: http://www.powercell.gov.bd/index.php?page_id=267.

Banladesh Power Development Board. [cited 2015 December 18]; Available from: http://www.bpdb.gov.bd/bpdb/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=6.

M.A.H. Mondal and M. Denich, “Assessment of renewable energy resources potential for electricity generation in Bangladeshâ€, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 14(8), pp. 2401-2413, 2010.

NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy. [cited 2015 December 19]; Available from: https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/.

M.S. Adaramola, M. Agelin-Chaab, and S.S. Paul, “Analysis of hybrid energy systems for application in southern Ghanaâ€, Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 88(0), pp. 284-295, 2014.

S. Rehman and L.M. Al-Hadhrami, “Study of a solar PV–diesel–battery hybrid power system for a remotely located population near Rafha, Saudi Arabiaâ€, Energy, vol. 35(12), pp. 4986-4995, 2010.

G. Rohani and M. Nour, “Techno-economical analysis of stand-alone hybrid renewable power system for Ras Musherib in United Arab Emiratesâ€, Energy, vol. 64(1), pp. 828-841, 2014.

G.J. Dalton, D.A. Lockington, and T.E. Baldock, “Feasibility analysis of stand-alone renewable energy supply options for a large hotel. Renewable Energyâ€, vol. 33(7), pp. 1475-1490, 2008.

K. Kusakana and H.J. Vermaak, “Hybrid renewable power systems for mobile telephony base stations in developing countriesâ€, Renewable Energy, vol. 51(0), pp. 419-425, 2013.

R. Sen and S.C. Bhattacharyya, “Off-grid electricity generation with renewable energy technologies in India: An application of HOMERâ€, Renewable Energy, vol. 62, pp. 388-398, 2014.

A. Ghasemi, A. Asrarib, M. Zarifc, and S. Abdelwahedd, “Techno-economic analysis of stand-alone hybrid photovoltaic–diesel–battery systems for rural electrification in eastern part of Iran—A step toward sustainable rural developmentâ€, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 28(0), pp. 456-462, 2013.

M. Fadaeenejad, M.A.M Radzi, M.Z.A. AbKadir, and H. Hizam, “Assessment of hybrid renewable power sources for rural electrification in Malaysiaâ€, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 30(0), pp. 299-305, 2014.

C. Li, X. Ge, Y. Zheng, C. Xu, Y. Ren, C. Song, and C. Yan, “Techno-economic feasibility study of autonomous hybrid wind/PV/battery power system for a household in Urumqi, Chinaâ€, Energy, vol. 55(0), pp. 263-272, 2013.

M.S. Ngan and C.W. Tan, “Assessment of economic viability for PV/wind/diesel hybrid energy system in southern Peninsular Malaysiaâ€, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16(1), pp. 634-64, 2012.

H.T. Abdulkarim, “Techno-economic analysis of solar energy for electric power generation in Nigeriaâ€' http://www.journal.au.edu/au_techno/2005/apr05/vol8no 4_abstract09.pdf.

M. Chandel, G.D. Agarwal, S. Mathur, and A. Mathur, “Techno-economic analysis of solar photovoltaic power plant for garment zone of Jaipur cityâ€, Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, vol. 2(0), pp. 1-7, 2014.

A.H. Mondal and A.K.M. Sadrul Islam, “Potential and viability of grid-connected solar PV system in Bangladeshâ€, Renewable Energy, vol. 36(6): pp. 1869-1874, 2011.

M.A.H. Mondal and M. Denich, “Hybrid systems for decentralized power generation in Bangladeshâ€, Energy for Sustainable Development, vol. 14, pp. 48-85, 2010.

A. Zubair, A.A. Tanvir, and M.M. Hasan, “Optimal Planning of Standalone Solar-Wind-Diesel Hybrid Energy System for a Coastal Area of Bangladeshâ€, International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering, vol. 2(6), pp. 731-38, 2012.

A.K.M.S. Islam, M.M. Rahman, M.A.H. Mondal, and F. Alam, “Hybrid energy system for St. Martin Island, Bangladesh: An optimized modelâ€, Procedia Engineering, vol. 49(0), pp. 179-188, 2012.

NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy. [cited 2015 December 19]; Available from: https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/.

R. Garcı´a-Valverde, C. Miguel, R. Martı´nez-Be´jar, and A. Urbina, “Life cycle assessment study of a 4.2kWp stand-alone photovoltaic systemâ€, Solar Energy, vol 83, pp. 1434–45, 2009.

U. Desideri., S. Proietti, F. Zepparelli, P. Sdringola, and S. Bini, “Life Cycle Assessment of a ground-mounted 1778 kWp photovoltaic plant and comparison with traditional energy production systemsâ€, Applied Energy, vol. 97, pp. 930–43, 2012.

E.A. Alsema, “Energy Pay-back Time and CO2 Emissions of PV Systemsâ€, Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, vol. 8, pp. 17-25, 2000.

Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), Available from: http://www.idcol.org/.

SRoeCo Solar. [cited 2015 December 19]; Available from: http://sroeco.com/solar/calculate-solar-cost/what_size_solar_system_do_i_need/.

Leonoics. [cited 2015 December 19]; Available from: http://www.leonics.com/support/article2_12j/articles2_12j_en.php.

A. Verma, R. Raj, M. Kumar, S. Ghandehariun, and A. Kumar, “Assessment of renewable energy technologies for charging electric vehicles in Canadaâ€, Energy, vol. 86(0), pp. 548-559, 2015.

Banladesh Bank. [cited 2015 December 19]; Available from; https://www.bb.org.bd/econdata/inflation.php.

A. Islam, F.A. Shima, A. Khanam, “Analysis of Grid Connected Solar PV System in the Southeastern Part of Bangladeshâ€, Applied Solar Energy,, vol. 49: pp. 116-223, 2013.

BD Stall. [cited 2015 December 19]; Available from: http://www.bdstall.com/listingDetail/index/8342/.

Wholesale Solar. [cited 2015 December 19]; Available from: http://www.wholesalesolar.com/3430303/schneider/charge-controllers/schneider-conext-xw-60-150-mppt-charge-controller.

KSRM. [cited 2015 December 19]; Available from: http://ksrm.com.bd/product_price.php.

R.M. Sohail and L.V. Dewri, “An Evaluation of 3% Roof Top Solar Panel Policy in Bangladeshâ€, Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh, 2012.




DOI (PDF): https://doi.org/10.20508/ijrer.v6i1.3254.g6768

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Online ISSN: 1309-0127

Publisher: Gazi University

IJRER is cited in SCOPUS, EBSCO, WEB of SCIENCE (Clarivate Analytics);

IJRER has been cited in Emerging Sources Citation Index from 2016 in web of science.

WEB of SCIENCE in 2025; 

h=35,

Average citation per item=6.59

Last three Years Impact Factor=(1947+1753+1586)/(146+201+78)=5286/425=12.43

Category Quartile:Q4