Electrical Energy Deficiency Solution Using Grid Connected Solar Photovoltaic System in Ghana - A Case Study at Accra East Region

Abstract

In an earlier paper on photovoltaic (PV) proliferations, favourable government policies were discussed as a panacea to the deployment of PV systems in Ghana. The power crisis problems in Ghana lately, which are normally resolved by the increase in tariffs to purchase fuel to fire thermal plants available in the short term, whiles in the long term, hydro and thermal plants are built to increase generation capacity are being looked. Until recently, solar had not been considered as one of the solutions to Ghana’s energy needs, hence the need to conduct a research into the deployment of grid connected solar PV system (GCSPVS) of power supply as an alternative to augment power deficiency facing the country. The Accra East Region was used as a case study, due to its fast growing nature. The region also has all the power consumer sector category classifications as follows: residential; commercial; special load tariff for low voltage (SLT-LV); and special load tariff for medium voltage (SLT-MV). Savings were made from the use of the PV system and evaluated. The findings from the research revealed that, all the sector categories had deficiency with the commercial sector showing about 8.33% margin, while the residential sector had 2.19%. The SLT-LV and SLT-MV indicated 4.64% and 4.57% respectively, making the commercial sector reeling for intervention from government. The simulation of two standard solutions using the System Advisor Model software for the sector with the highest deficiency were conducted in the research: a 34.4 DC kW GCSPVS for all institutions and companies as well as 3.4 DC kW GCSPVS for all other customers in the commercial sector. The policies proposed for government to undertake as well as financial benchmarks that will make PV systems competitive and viable for implementation are also presented in this paper.