Review Special Issues

A review of technical options for solar charging stations in Asia and Africa

  • Received: 01 June 2015 Accepted: 03 September 2015 Published: 09 September 2015
  • Charging stations are an attractive solution to provide access to electricity to low income populations with low energy consumption in remote and off-grid areas. This paper reviews the state of the art of charging stations, with special focus on the technical options. Forty-five different actors in this field were analysed, based on academic publications, reports, online search and surveys. Results show that most stations are run in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia, are powered by solar energy and although there are many different energy services targeted, the most popular services are charging batteries, mobile phones and lamps. The first charging station was installed in 1992 but most activities happen after 2005. This recent growth has been enabled by the falling cost of photovoltaic modules, learning effect, economies of scale, financial innovation, private sector involvement and worldwide dissemination of mobile phones. While in the first system the only purpose was to charge solar photovoltaic lanterns, the first multi-purpose station appeared in 2008. As expected, the technical challenges are mostly related to the use of batteries not only because they represent the component with shortest lifetime but also because if the battery is not for individual use, social questions arise due to poor definition of rights and duties of the customers. Furthermore, the development of a sustainable business model is also a challenge since this requires technical skills and system monitoring that are not usually available locally. Finally, it is also suggested that the minimum technical quality standards for charging stations should be defined and implemented.

    Citation: R. H. Almeida, M. C. Brito. A review of technical options for solar charging stations in Asia and Africa[J]. AIMS Energy, 2015, 3(3): 428-449. doi: 10.3934/energy.2015.3.428

    Related Papers:

  • Charging stations are an attractive solution to provide access to electricity to low income populations with low energy consumption in remote and off-grid areas. This paper reviews the state of the art of charging stations, with special focus on the technical options. Forty-five different actors in this field were analysed, based on academic publications, reports, online search and surveys. Results show that most stations are run in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia, are powered by solar energy and although there are many different energy services targeted, the most popular services are charging batteries, mobile phones and lamps. The first charging station was installed in 1992 but most activities happen after 2005. This recent growth has been enabled by the falling cost of photovoltaic modules, learning effect, economies of scale, financial innovation, private sector involvement and worldwide dissemination of mobile phones. While in the first system the only purpose was to charge solar photovoltaic lanterns, the first multi-purpose station appeared in 2008. As expected, the technical challenges are mostly related to the use of batteries not only because they represent the component with shortest lifetime but also because if the battery is not for individual use, social questions arise due to poor definition of rights and duties of the customers. Furthermore, the development of a sustainable business model is also a challenge since this requires technical skills and system monitoring that are not usually available locally. Finally, it is also suggested that the minimum technical quality standards for charging stations should be defined and implemented.


    加载中
    [1] International Energy Agency, Energy Access Database, 2015. Available from: http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/resources/energydevelopment/energyaccessdatabase/#d.en.8609.
    [2] International Energy Agency (2013) Global Energy Trends, In: World Energy Outlook 2013, International Energy Agency.
    [3] Alstone P, Gershenson D, Kammen DM (2015) Decentralized energy systems for clean electricity access. Nat Clim Chang 5: 305-314.
    [4] Green Power for Mobile (2011) Green Power for Mobile Charging Choices 2011 - Mobile Phone Charging Solutions in the Developing World, Groupe Speciale Mobile Association, London.
    [5] GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, German Technical Cooperation Agency in English), Rural Electrification by Battery Charging Stations, GTZ.
    [6] Corbus D (1998) Battery Charging Stations (Project Brief, Renewables for Sustainable Village Power ), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Washington, DC.
    [7] Kemeny P, Munro PG, Schiavone N, et al. (2014) Community Charging Stations in rural sub-Saharan Africa: Commercial. Energy Sustain Dev 23: 228-236.
    [8] Emmott CJM, Jaoude AA, Urbina A, et al. (2012) Life Cycle Analysis of an Off-Grid Solar Charging Kiosk, IEEE Third International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies (ICSET), Kathmandu.
    [9] dos Santos RR, R Zilles (2001) Photovoltaic Residential Electrification: A Case Study on Solar Battery Charging Stations in Brazil. Prog Photovolt Res Appl 9: 445-453.
    [10] Dung TQ, Anisuzzaman M, Kumar S, et al. (2003) Demonstration of multi-purpose battery charging station for rural electrification. Renew Energ 8: 2367-2378.
    [11] Chaurey A, Kandpal TC (2009) Solar lanterns for domestic lighting in India: Viability of central charging, Energ Policy 37: 4910-4918.
    [12] Chaurey A, Kandpal TC (2010) Assessment and evaluation of PV based decentralized rural electrification: An overview. Renew Sust Energ Rev 14: 2266-2278. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2010.04.005
    [13] Manchester SC, Swan LG (2013) Off-grid mobile phone charging: An experimental study. Energy Sustain Dev 17: 564-571. doi: 10.1016/j.esd.2013.10.003
    [14] Ley D, Martínez H, Lara E, et al., Nicaraguan Renewable Energy for rural zones program initiative. Availabe from: http://solar.nmsu.edu/publications//A185.pdf
    [15] Chhim C, Ketjoy N, Suriwong T (2014) Techno-Economic Analysis of PV Battery Charging Station in Kampot, Cambodia. J Clean Energ Tech 2: 369-373. doi: 10.7763/JOCET.2014.V2.156
    [16] Wyche SP, Murphy LL (2012) “Dead China-Make” Phones Off the Grid: Investigating and Designing for Mobile Phone Use in Rural Africa, Designing Interactive Systems Conference, New York.
    [17] Thongsathitya A, Surawatanawong J, Stakulcharoen S (1995), Photovoltaic Battery charging stations for Non - electrified villages in Thailand, Ministry of Interior, Bangkok.
    [18] Sriuthaisiriwong Y, Kumar S (2001) Rural Electrification Using Photovoltaic Battery Charging Stations: A Performance Study in Northern Thailand. Prog Photovolt Res Appl 9: 223-234.
    [19] Resch M, Schnorr F, Wolff M, et al. (2013) Local and Global Simulation of Solarkiosks, 3rd Symposium Small PV-Applications, Ulm.
    [20] Green D (2004) Thailand's solar white elephants: an analysis of 15 yr of solar battery. Energ Policy 32: 747-760.
    [21] Johnson NG, Bryden KM (2012) Energy supply and use in a rural West African village. Energy 43: 283-292.
    [22] Bidwell NJ, Siya M, Marsden G, et al. (2013) Walking and the Social Life of Solar Charging in Rural Africa, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) - Special issue on practice-oriented approaches to sustainable HCI 20.
    [23] Linna P (2011) Community-level entrepreneurial activities: Case study from rural Kenya. Int J Bus Public Manage 1: 8-15.
    [24] Wyche SP, Murphy LL (2013) Powering the cellphone revolution: findings from mobile phone charging trials in off-grid Kenya, SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York.
    [25] Jacobson A (2007) Connective Power: Solar Electrification and Social Change in Kenya. World Dev 35: 144-162.
    [26] Sheng S, Hsu CT, Li P, et al. (2013) Energy Management for Solar Battery Charging Station, IEEE 14th Workshop on Control and Modeling for Power Electronics (COMPEL), Salt Lake City.
    [27] Chaurey A, Krithika PR, Palit D, et al. (2012) New partnerships and business models for facilitating energy access. Energ Policy 47: 48-55.
    [28] Rey-Moreno C, Roro Z, Tucker WD, et al. (2013) Community-based Solar Power Revenue Alternative to Improve Sustainability of a Rural Wireless Mesh Network, Sixth International Conference on Information and Communications Technologies and Development, New York.
    [29] Milicevic M (2014) Cyberspace and Globalization, 2nd African Digital Curation Conference, Pretoria, South Africa.
    [30] Bidwell NJ, Reitmaier T, Rey-Moreno C,et al. (2013) Timely Relations in Rural Africa, 12th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countrie1, Ocho Rios.
    [31] Adkins E, Oppelstrup K, Modi V (2012) Rural household energy consumption in the millennium villages in Sub-Saharan Africa. Energ Sustain Dev 12: 249-259.
    [32] Gaudchau E, Gerlach AK, Wasgindt V, et al. (2013) Business Models for Renewable Energy Based Mini-Grids in Non-Electrified Regions, 28th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, Paris.
    [33] Silva ID, Abop MS, Wassler S, et al. (2012) Establishment of a Solar Energy Kiosk as a Solar Field Laboratory, 27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, Frankfurt.
    [34] Mohanty P, Dasgupta N, Sharma A (2010) Centralized solar lantern charging station under ‘lighting a billion lives' campaign: a technological evolution. Prog Photovolt Res Appl 18: 516-534.
    [35] Greacen C, Green D (2001) The role of bypass diodes in the failure of solar battery charging stations in Thailand. Sol Energ Mat Sol C 70: 141-149. doi: 10.1016/S0927-0248(01)00017-4
    [36] Lorenzo E (1997) Photovoltaic Rural Electrification. Prog Photovolt Res Appl 5: 3-27.
    [37] Palit D (2013) Solar energy programs for rural electrification: Experiences and lessons from South Asia. Energ Sustain Dev 17: 270-290. doi: 10.1016/j.esd.2013.01.002
    [38] Palit D, Singh J (2011) Lighting a Billion Lives - Empowering the rural poor. Boiling Point 59.
    [39] Borah RR, Palit D, Mahapatra S (2013) Comparative Analysis of Solar Photovoltaic Lighting Systems in India, 4th International Conference on Advances in Energy Research, Bombay.
    [40] Ulsruda K, Wintherb T, Palit D, et al. (2015) Village-level solar power in Africa: Accelerating access to electricity services through a socio-technical design in Kenya. Energ Res Soc Sci 5: 34-44.
    [41] Santos RR, Zilles R (2000) Eletrificação de localidades isoladas: centros fotovoltaicos de carga de bateria e sistemas fotovoltaicos domiciliares, 3 Encontro de Energia no Meio Rural, Campinas.
    [42] Muhopadhyay K, Sensarma B, Saha H (1993) Solar PV lanterns with centralized charging system - a new concept for rural lighting in the developing nations. Sol Energ Mat Sol C 31: 437-446.
    [43] Gaillard L, Schroeter A (2009) Solar Recharging Stations: Selling Hours of Solar, 1st International Conference on the Developments in Renewable Energy Technology, Dhaka.
    [44] UNIDO Representative for Kenya and Eritrea, KIANG'OMBEJM hybrid Energy Kiosk - A technology developed to support the UNIDO-Kenya Initiative of Rural Energy for Productive Use In off-grid rural areas of Africa, Nairobi. Available from: http://www.riaed.net/IMG/pdf/KENYA_UNIDO_launches_hybrid_energy_kiosk_in_Kiang_ombe.pdf
    [45] Jaoude AA, Grealish A, Holzigel J, et al. (2013) Experiences from Solar Battery Charging Kiosks in Rwanda, 3rd Sympsium on Small PV Applications for Rural Electrification and Commercial Uses, Ulm.
    [46] Collings S (2011) Phone Charging Micro-businesses in Tanzania and Uganda, GVEP International, London, 2011.
    [47] Fishbein RE (2003) Survey of Productive Uses of Electricity in Rural Areas, World Bank, Washington DC.
    [48] The Energy and Mining Sector Board (2008) Box 2: Solar Battery Charging Stations in Nicaragua: Solution for the Poorest?, In The World Bank, Designing Sustainable Off-Grid Rural Electrification Projects: Principles and Practices, The World Bank, Washington DC.
    [49] Green Power for Mobile, Community Power from Mobile - Charging Services, Groupe Speciale Mobile Association, London, 2011.
    [50] Knobloch C, Hartl J (2014) The Energy Kiosk Model - Current Challenges and Future Strategies, Endeva Business Model Library.
    [51] Hartl JM (2014) The Energy Kiosk Model for Electrification - Status Quo and Future Strategies, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon.
    [52] The World Bank (2012) Maximizing Mobile: Information and Communications for Development, The World Bank, Washington DC.
    [53] BBOXX, BBOXX, 2015. Available from: http://www.bboxx.co.uk/.
    [54] HERi Madagascar, HERi Madagascar, 2014. Available from: http://www.beheri.com/NL.
    [55] Juabar, Juabar, 2014. Available from: http://juabar.com/.
    [56] SolarKiosk, SolarKiosk , 2014. Available from: http://solarkiosk.eu/.
    [57] Lighting A Billion Lives, Lighting A Billion Lives , 2015. Available from: http://labl.teriin.org/.
    [58] African Renewable Energy Distributor, African Renewable Energy Distributor, 2014. Available from: http://www.a-r-e-d.com/.
    [59] International Energy Agency (2011) Energy for All - Financing access for the poor, International Energy Agency.
    [60] The Money Converter, The Money Converter, 2014. Available from: http://themoneyconverter.com/.
    [61] International Electrotechnical Commission (2013) Recommendations for small renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification - Part 9-5: Integrated system - Selection of stand-alone lighting kits for rural electrification, International Electrotechnical Commission, Geneva.
  • Reader Comments
  • © 2015 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
  • 1. 

    沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

  1. 本站搜索
  2. 百度学术搜索
  3. 万方数据库搜索
  4. CNKI搜索

Metrics

Article views(7745) PDF downloads(1497) Cited by(5)

Article outline

Figures and Tables

Figures(15)  /  Tables(3)

Other Articles By Authors

/

DownLoad:  Full-Size Img  PowerPoint
Return
Return

Catalog