Rural areas in various locations are facing electricity shortages and are compelled to heavily rely on non-renewable and ecologically harmful fossil fuels as their primary source of energy. To address this issue, microgrids were proposed as a solution to provide energy to these areas. An IEEE working group, the SESDC Working Group, was established to investigate the feasibility of implementing isolated microgrids as solutions in these communities. However, it has been identified that a proper software tool for microgrid planning is needed to accurately analyze the optimal microgrid configuration. Thus, a user-friendly and secure web-based system for microgrid planning was proposed. This tool was developed using the Django web development framework and Python programming language. It was then validated with users to ensure that the data entered is calculated correctly and produced the expected results.
Citation: J. -F. Polanco et al., “A New Toolkit for Energy Planning for Isolated Microgrids,” in IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 93815-93827, 2023, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3304546.
Sustainability has been famously defined as the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. While elegant in its conceptual simplicity, this definition is often not the most useful one to practitioners, especially those working in the area of energy deployment in developing communities. The sustainability of small-scale, off-grid energy systems that appear to fit this definition neatly cannot, in fact, be taken for granted. And sustainability is key: it can mean the difference between prolonged poverty and transformational prosperity for the 1.2 billion people around the world who lack electricity, some 85% of them in rural areas.
Citation: Louie, H., Dauenhauer, P., Wilson, M., Zomers, A., & Mutale, J. (2014). Eternal light: Ingredients for sustainable off-grid energy development. IEEE Power and Energy Magazine, 12(4), 70-78.
According to the World Bank, there are about 1.2 billion people who do not have access to electricity, most of them in rural and remote areas in the developing world. Developed nations faced a similar challenge to improve electricity access at the turn of the last century. Electricity access, especially in rural areas, is therefore a global challenge that has to be addressed by most countries at one point or another. Many developing nations, together with numerous aid agencies and support from developed nations, are working today to solve the technical, institutional, and educational dimensions of this challenge. In this article, the experiences of three broadly different countries?the United States, India, and Zambia?are described, illustrating approaches that have been or are being taken to overcome the electrification challenge.
Citation: Rudnick, H., Mutale, J., Chattopadhyay, D., & Saint, R. (2014). Studies in empowerment: Approaches to rural electrification worldwide. IEEE Power and Energy Magazine, 12(4), 35-41.
