Potential of hybrid PV systems for rural South Africa: addressing income activities and water supply

Abstract

The national grid and piping extension for providing electricity and water services will certainly in the coming decades not reach rural areas of many African countries. In order to use and manage local energy and water sources, off-grid power supply systems are able to provide, depending on the local conditions, cost-effective solutions. The establishment of hybrid Photovoltaic PV systems based on local renewable sources (wind, water, biomass), on diesel engines and on storage systems may be designed not only to provide electricity for basic uses, but also to power incoming activities. Off-grid power supply systems contributes also for solutions in water scarcity by powering water pumping for irrigation in agriculture activities, for village water supply in rural areas, by means of water treatment systems based in membrane filtration; improves health conditions and avoids diseases for the human population. Experiences and well developed local networks in South Africa shows to be a "turn key" player to develop sustainable solutions and to scale-up hybrid PV systems for supplying energy and water to rural areas and to other African countries. The challenge to scale-up new renewable energy technologies in the next years is that they have to be cost-effective, affordable and feasible for rural populations. The experiences described in this paper present several technology choices for combining energy and water supply based on local resources as alternative solution that promote social and economic development in rural communities.