Thanks for sharing. The electrification of the developing world is a task I hope to play a role in actualising. I have a few questions that I am hoping I can get some answers to.

1. I am sceptical about the statement regarding PV microgrids that mentions that "some beneficiaries see themselves as being fobbed off with a poor relation of 'real electricity' and want the same electricity as the 'fortunate ones' that gives them access to TVs, washing machines and computers". Have actual studies been conducted on this? Rather than washing machines and computers etc, wouldn't the first priority be to have basic necessities such as lighting ? Besides, can one not argue that microgrids are more reliable than the traditional grid? 

2. What makes this solution better than the microgrid solutions which are currently in the market and have been implemented in African countries which provide lights, storage and even tv's in some instances? 

3. How do you intend to roll this out? Will you give these systems away? Will you offer it via affordable payment plans? 

personally  I can fully understand that, I'd rather have the washing machine and Fridge, and suffer to go to bed when it got dark, if it was a simple choice. This is based on child-hood experience in the early 1970s in the UK.

One of my sets of grandparents never had a washing machine, but they did have electricity and it was always a great limitation and a huge waste of time when visiting them to have to wash clothes and bedsheets  in the bath (no duvets or sleeping bags - something like that could never have been dried ).  At least they had an immersion heater, so there was copious hot water without lighting the back boiler, and oddly they an inside loo, which the other set of grandparents did not, but then they had a washing machine ( and from 1975 onwards a gas boiler).

Do not under-estimate the liberation from hours of domestic drudgery that an electric  washer provides, until you have washed by hand for a week, nor the time not spent daily shopping once you have a fridge to keep stuff fresh. Add in lighting a fire for hot water and boiling the kettle, and the appeal of a few kW  at  240V or so is almost irresistible, though gas bottles are an intermediate solution.

There is the obvious problem than in most societies we might consider in need of such revolution, the effort saved is mostly that of women, and perhaps the lower classes, but the spending power to do so is mostly that of wealthier men, so it may go on bling like phones and TV first after all. 

I do recall a visit to a large Indian City in the early 2000s and the English language newspaper was trumpeting the mobile phone coverage  over the whole city but in small print on the back the drinking water programme (not very ambitious by our standard , something like a tap within 100m of every dwelling)  was running about 5 years behind plan in what we would consider to be the slum areas,  and about to be delayed again. Priorities are funny things.

However, it is not our place to force solutions onto folk who collectively do not wish them, but we really should at least be drawing attention to the art of the possible.

Mike.

Hi Mike, 

Thanks for your answer and sharing your experience.

I can see why you would say that and I agree with your point about fridges particularly in hospitals which need to be able to store medicines etc. 

Would you say that your grandparents had a steady and clean supply of water? Was the water and sanitation system in the UK quite developed at that time? 

I think I am thinking of it in a different way. Let us remember that there are different standards of living in every country. You have very rich people, the upper middle class, the middle class, the poor and people in between. This applies to developing countries as well. 

If, for example, I had to choose between clean water to drink, bathe with and  and roughly the same amount of water to use in a washing machine, I would go for the former. This doesn’t take into account the cost of buying and running a washing machine. If someone doesn’t have a steady income, or doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from, or doesn’t have immediate access to clean running water, or has more pressing needs to spend their money on i.e. hospital bills, school fees etc. Why would a washing machine be a priority for them? 

I think a lot of different factors need to be taken into account because it seems that we are making a lot of assumptions. This is why I asked if an actual study had been done with first hand information from the intended customers.

That’s not to say a washing machine won’t be a basic necessity in the developing world in the future, but as a matter of urgency I think lighting and as a result the ability to use plug in appliances, safer and more environmentally friendly ways to cook, better access to education, clean water, healthcare and security would be the most pressing issues to consider here. 

I agree that it is not our place to force solutions onto people that might not necessarily want it, or go in with a saviour complex.

Elizabeth 

Hi Elizabeth,

Chris Moller is back from holiday and has provided me with these responses to your excellent questions

Question 1:

This is the feedback I’ve received from quite a few people I’ve spoken to about off-grid electricity in Ghana (where though based in Cambridge UK, I’m Treasurer of a Vocational College teaching electrical installation) .  Most people in rural areas have relatives in the town who have access to grid electricity.  They themselves go into town and see retailers offering all kinds of shiny appliances (which they generally couldn’t afford, even if they had the electricity to run them).  This is what they dream about having in their village.  They see 12V Solar Home Systems as being very limited (which they are), and they are reluctant to spend what little cash they have on something so far short of their dream.  Personally, I’m with you on this – I think they would be better off with a limited system than with nothing, but that’s not what they say to me.  I haven’t done a statistically significant poll on this, but I’d be very keen to help organise one.

Concerning reliability, there is throughout Africa a deep distrust of centralised systems (you probably don’t need me to tell you that!) and the helplessness one feels when grid electricity has (perhaps very frequent) power cuts.  A self-contained SHS puts me completely in control, and if the battery runs out, I have only myself to blame – which is perhaps preferable. A village minigrid is somewhere in between these two extremes.  I would like to see every village have an autonomous minigrid, with connections between villages turned on when it’s useful to share – but each village will need a technically competent person to oversee it.

Question 2: 

A DC village minigrid is less expensive to install than an AC one, and requires less technical skills. It is also possible to gracefully upgrade a standalone SHS to a DC village minigrid connection, and/or to provide peer-to-peer energy trading, without changing appliances.  This is proving to be quite popular in some countries, notably in South America and Bangladesh (check out Solshare - https://me-solshare.com/ ).  However, it may well be a stepping stone to an AC minigrid offering 230VAC.  SolShare says a DC household costs $100, compared with $900 for an AC one.

Question 3:

Our roles are technical, but the work we’re doing on standards and demonstrators feeds into the IET’s and the IEC’s standardisation work, and we are working with GOGLA on standards for the Developing World.  Many GOGLA members offer PAYGO products with very affordable payment plans.  They are shipping millions of systems annually.

To Chris’ responses I would like to add the point that what we really want to achieve is a transition to adoption of more sustainable infrastructure globally. We’re going to be pushing stakeholders in economically developed countries to innovate in that direction. At the moment we are grouping stakeholders as follows; Energy Suppliers, Consumers, Manufacturers and Constructors. We’d welcome your perspective on any of the above!

Hi Allan and Chris,

Thank you both for your answers. 

Question 1:

That's interesting to hear! I haven't been to Ghana so I don't have any insight on the people or their needs, but I think a poll in different countries would give us a much better insight.

I cannot speak for all of the other countries in Africa, but in Kenya for example, the electricity distributor is a monopoly so there isn't as much choice as there is here in the UK. Blackouts due to various reasons occur, (definitely at a higher frequency in some places than others) and that unfortunately is something that one has to contend with. 

Those that can afford backup diesel generators have them, and can simply switch to them once there is a blackout. Some people also have solar panels installed on their roofs but are ultimately still connected to the grid. 

I think that a village mini-grid makes a lot of sense. I also think that there is a lot of energy potential that is not being taken advantage of in African countries (other than solar power), particularly those that are on the coastline and at the same time  have an extremely low number of people with access to electricity. Finding a way to harness that energy and connect people to the grid (whether the main one or a mini grid) should be a priority. 

Question 2:

Thanks for sharing the Solshare page. What they are doing is really interesting and I really like the idea of peer to peer trading as it provides opportunities to earn an income to the community. MKopa solar is what came to mind for me when I first read your article - 

Question 3:

Does that mean that you intend to offer the solution on a payment plan eventually or has that not been decided yet? 

Still on the question of the rollout, I noted the interactive map in the table that shows the shares of the population with access to electricity. Would the first priority be the Central African countries which have less than 20% of people with electricity access? Then followed by those with less than 30% and so forth?

On your final point Alan, I think that would be great. We know that the electricity network has remained largely unchanged for more than 100 years now. There has been an attitude of “if it ain't broke, don't fix it”. However with the integration of LCTs such as intermittent solar energy and electric vehicles etc., enhancements are having to be made in order for the grid to cope with all these added demands. There is also the added factor of transitioning to the smart grid. It has taken us quite a while to get to this stage and innovative designs for AC voltage control are being thought about and designed, and developed. 

How easy/difficult do you think it will be to get these stakeholders in economically developed countries to innovate in the DC electricity direction? What would the benefit for them be considering the investments that they have made to stabilise the AC grid ? 

Thanks and kind regards,

Elizabeth