Optimized Photovoltaic Energy System for Tier 2 Electricity Access

In the world, there are more than one billion people who have not accessed to electricity. IEEE Empower a Billion Lives has been initiated. The goal is to provide at least Tier 2 electricity access that is defined by ESMAP (Energy Sector Assistance Program). For a solution, the Solar Off-grid System (SOS) is introduced in this paper. It is the system that has a microinverter and lithium-ion battery pack integrated at the back of photovoltaic (PV) panel. The optimum PV panel power and battery capacity are simulated by considering eight power flow scenarios. As a result, the optimum size for PV panel is 60W and the battery capacity is SOWh. Then, the state-of-charge (SoC) estimation method is explained based on the battery modeling, and its parameters are experimentally extracted. After that, a thermal management strategy is discussed and decided to be PCM (Phase Change Material) by considering a PV temperature model and a battery thermal model. Thus, this paper presents an optimized PV energy system for Tier 2 electricity access by researching its feasibility by adding theoretical and experimental results to make the system safe and cost effective.