Techno Economics Analysis of Off-Grid Photovoltaic (PV) Systems in a Remote Area in Indonesia for Rural Village Electrification
Airin Marsaulina Hutabarat (1*), Rinaldy Dalimi (2), Budi Sudiarto (3)

1) Doctoral Program, Electrical Engineering Department, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus UI Depok, 16424, Indonesia
*airin.marsaulina[at]ui.ac.id
2) Research Group for Energy Transition (REGRET), Electrical Engineering Department, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus UI Depok, 16424, Indonesia
3) Smart Grid Research Group (SGRG), Electrical Engineering Department, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus UI Depok, 16424, Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesia is an archipelago country with over 17,000 islands spread across the equator with abundance resource of solar energy potential. However, due to its challenging geographical and terrain, many rural villages in Indonesia remains without electricity access. Hence it inhibits people in such remote islands to increase their social economic welfare. In efforts to reach out the last miles of 100% electrification coupled with the Energy Transition Pathway to achieve Net Zero Emission by 2060, utilizing the renewable resources such as solar energy is the key solution. This paper aims to assess the off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems for rural village electrification in Indonesia. The study focusses on analysing various configuration, namely diesel generator as the base scenario, solar PV only, solar PV with battery, solar PV with diesel, and solar PV with battery and diesel. The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) approach is utilized to assess the cost-competitiveness of the off-grid PV systems compared to the diesel generator as a typical rural electrification solution in Indonesia. The study uses Homer software to model and evaluation these different scenarios.

Keywords: Rural Electrification, Off-Grid, Remote Area, Solar Photovoltaic, Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE)

Topic: Energy and Environmental Physics