Deterrents on the Over Utilisation of Stand Alone Photovoltaic (PV) Systems: A Case of the Botswana National Photovoltaic Rural Electrification Programme (NPVREP)

Abstract

The NPVREP is a national programme funded by the government of Botswana, through the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Affairs with the overall goal of providing photovoltaic energy to rural households and institutions at affordable financial terms. The programme is implemented by Rural Industries Promotions Company, Botswana, through its operational arm, Rural Industries Innovation Centre (RIIC). At inception of the programme, systems were either undersized, or over utilised as clients did not reveal their usage needs in an attempt to reduce costs. This resulted in battery failures and other system breakdowns. The NPVREP categorised systems in order to alleviate the problem of under sizing and/or over utilization of systems. Categorised systems are pre-sized and users have to determine a category into which their needs fall. Statistical analysis at 5 % level of confidence show that the actual sizings of module array and battery bank are significantly different from the categorised system sizes for both the module array and the battery bank.


(Botswana Journal of Technology: 2003 12(2): 45-50)