SLOVAK UNIVERSITY OF

TECHNOLOGY
Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology
INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

ŠVOČ 2009
RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES AND TECHNOLOGIES – A PERSPECTIVE
AND EXPERIENCE IN A RURAL COMMUNITY IN MOZAMBIQUE

BRATISLAVA 2009
Author: Juan José Chávez Fuentes

Adviser: Doc. Ing. Igor Bodik CSc.

 Renewable energy resources and technologies - a perspective and experience in a
rural community in Mozambique
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ABSTRACT
Energy plays an important role in the socio-economic development of every country.
Economic growth and improvement of people's living standard are all directly or indirectly
related to the increasing utilization of energy, of which electricity is the most important. The
use of renewable energy is becoming an increasingly valuable part of the world's energy
development. Solar energy as off-grid systems brings new possibilities of development to
rural communities which are not connected to any electricity network; supplying its energy
needs by an effective and sustainable utilization of the inexhaustible resource.

Developing countries situated in zones where isolation is high throughout the year can widely
exploit solar technologies. Such is the case of Mozambique, a developing country located in
Sub-Saharan Africa. Its population is about 21.5 million, of which, in spite of the efforts of
the government to improve the electrical infrastructure, more than 90% of the households are
not connected to any electrical grid and the most of the people living in rural communities
will remain in the same conditions for the next 15 years.1 Off-grid solar systems are coming
to help to satisfy the most necessary needs of the communities in health, educational,
administrative and technological matters. Going beyond, one day renewable resources could
supply the energy demand in rural communities.

The purposes of this study are to show the benefits of using renewable energy, mainly solar
energy, in places without connection to the local power grid; and, based on the experience as
project manager in the assembly of off-grid solar systems in a rural community in
Mozambique, proportionate a roughly analyze of the project and its outcomes and give a
perspective of the application of renewable resources in the project Solar Energy for Meloco,
Mozambique.

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 Renewable energy resources and technologies - a perspective and experience in a
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AKNOWLEDGMENTS
Hereby, I would like to thank Ing. Zuzana Letkova for all her support and for giving
me the opportunity to participate in a project of this magnitude, to Jaroslav Korvín for
his valuable practical and technical knowledge, skills and experiences during the
execution of the project in Mozambique; to Doc. Ing. Igor Bodik CSc. for his support
while preparing this study.

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 Renewable energy resources and technologies - a perspective and experience in a
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CONTENTS
1. BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................... 4

Renewable energy resources.............................................................................................. 5

Importance of the renewable energies today ...................................................................... 6

2. SOLAR ENERGY ......................................................................................................... 8

Grid-connected and off- grid systems ................................................................................. 8

Applications of solar technologies ..................................................................................... 8

World insolation ................................................................................................................ 8

Disadvantages of the solar energy ................................................................................... 10

Photovoltaic systems (PV) ............................................................................................... 11

3. PROJECT: SOLAR ENERGY FOR MELOCO, MOZAMBIQUE ............................... 12

Aim of the project ............................................................................................................ 12

Situation of the locality .................................................................................................... 12

Phases of the Project ....................................................................................................... 12

Technical Characteristics of the Assembled Systems ........................................................ 13

Project Assumptions ........................................................................................................ 14

Evaluation of results ........................................................................................................ 15

4. CONCLUSION............................................................................................................ 17

5. APPENDIX ................................................................................................................. 18

6. REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 20

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1. BACKGROUND

“Engineering is a great profession. There is the satisfaction of watching a figment of the imagination
emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realisation in stone or metal or
energy. Then it brings homes to men or women. Then it elevates the standard of living and adds to the
comforts of life. This is the engineer's high privilege”

Herbert Hoover (1874 - 1964)

The world faces today the big challenge of holding a sustainable development. At energy matters,
this means the provision of energy to satisfy the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their needs.

The two most common forms of energy we use are heat and electricity. Most of the machines
around us use either heat or electricity to do their work. Besides them, we use many other forms
of energy every day of our lives. Energy is easily converted from one form to another. This is an
important and very useful property, because we rarely produce energy using the same device, or
in the same form as what is needed for the task at hand. Since energy is often produced at some
distance from its end use, we also need to transmit it from its source location to where it is
needed. This is done by means of wires in the case of electricity, or pipelines or tank trucks in the
case of oil or natural gas. Not all forms of energy can be easily stored or transported. For
instance, light is impossible to store directly. It has to be converted to some other form, such as
chemical energy first.

Much of our energy supply comes from coal, oil, natural gas, or radioactive elements. They are
considered non-renewable because once they are removed from the ground and used, they are not
immediately replaced. Humans will have used up most of these deposits in less than 200 years.
Once they are gone, non-renewable energy supplies cannot be replaced. Renewable energy on the
other hand quickly replaces itself and is usually available in a never-ending supply. Renewable
energy comes mainly from the natural flow of sunlight, wind, or water around the Earth.

The image above compares the total electricity consumed in 2007, with the population in this
year and the electricity generated from renewable sources.2

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Renewable energy resources

The most common definition is that renewable energy comes from an energy resource that is
replaced by a natural process at a rate, that is equal to or faster than the rate at which that
resource is being consumed. Renewable energy is a subset of sustainable energy and may be
used directly, or used to create other more convenient forms of energy. Some of them are
exposed below.

Sunlight is an excellent source of heat and electricity. Solar collectors and modules are
designed to capture sun’s energy and change it from radiation into more usable forms such
as heat or electricity.

Solar Energy Solar energy is often called as the energy of the future, while is becoming increasingly
popular for remote power needs such as telecommunication towers, agricultural
applications, in tropical countries without access to an electrical grid, for heating water, and
many other applications around the world.

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as
electricity, using wind turbines. It is also widely used to move water and produce work,
using water-pumping windmills.
Wind Energy There are now many thousands of wind turbines operating. Nevertheless its huge potential
is reserved to locations where wind power density (WDP) is optimal (13% of the total global
land area). Isolated communities can use small-scale wind turbines to displace diesel fuel
consumption and other similar technologies.

The term biomass refers to any form of plant or animal tissue. The energy stored in biomass
can be released by burning the material directly, or by feeding it to micro-organisms that
use it to make biogas, a form of natural gas.
Biomass In the energy industry, biomass refers to wood, straw, biological waste products such as
Energy manure, and other natural materials that contain stored energy.
Energy from biomass is still used around the world, for everything from cooking and
heating to generating electricity.

The energy of falling water is used mainly to drive electrical generators at hydroelectric
dams.
Hydroelectric
energy As long as rainfall and other precipitations can fill the streams and rivers, moving water can
be a renewable source of energy; nevertheless, they may not be sustainable in the long run
because of their impact on the environment.

Tidal stream systems make use of the kinetic energy of moving water to power turbines, in
a similar way to windmills that use moving air. It’s generated by the relative motion of the
Earth, Sun and the Moon, which interact via gravitational forces.
Tidal power These systems need to be located in areas with fast currents where natural flows are
concentrated between obstructions, for example at the entrances to bays and rivers,
around rocky points, headlands, or between islands or other land masses.

Wave power is the transport of energy by ocean surface waves, and the capture of that
Wave Energy energy to do useful work.
Wave height is determined by wind speed and blowing duration, fetch, depth and
topography of the seafloor. A variety of technologies have been proposed to capture the

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energy from waves. Some of the more promising designs are undergoing demonstration
testing at commercial scales.

The hot water or steam is carried to communities in insulated pipes and used to heat
homes and businesses.
In some cases, the water is superheated. This water quickly turns to high-pressure steam,
Geothermal
which can turn high-speed turbines that drive electrical generators.
Heat This energy is produce by taking advantage of naturally occurring geysers, hot springs, and
steam vents (called fumaroles) to gather hot water and steam for heating.

A ground source heat pump works the same way every refrigerator does; using a
Ground compressor, lengths of sealed tubing for gathering and dispersing heat (heat exchangers),
and a gas called the refrigerant.
Source Heat The temperature of the soil below about 2 metres remains constant regardless of the
Pumps weather or season. The difference between air and deep soil temperatures can be used for
heating and cooling in a very efficient manner.

Importance of the renewable energies today

Energy Price Stability

In the last years, we have seen large fluctuations in the cost of natural gas, oil, and electricity
due to global economics, market deregulation, and political events in some parts of the world.
Renewable energy is not subject to sharp price changes because it comes from sources such
as sunshine, flowing water, wind, and biological waste, all of which are free.

Protecting Global Climates

When fossil fuels are burned, they release carbon dioxide. This gas acts like an invisible
blanket, trapping more of the sun's energy in the atmosphere, causing the Earth to warm up
little by little. Carbon dioxide is building up in the atmosphere as more and more fossil fuels
are used in homes, factories, and automobiles. If this continues, most scientists think our
planet is likely to become significantly warmer, which could cause many serious problems
around the world. These problems could include melting of arctic ice, increased forest fires,
rising sea levels, loss of animal habitat, damage to coral reefs, the spreading of tropical
diseases, expanding deserts, and more frequent and severe storms.

Protecting Landscapes and Watersheds

Some energy projects, particularly big coalmines, hydro dams, and oil and gas activities, can
have a large impact on lands and watersheds. Damage or loss of natural lands and watersheds
is likely to affect humans and animals. For example, wilderness areas could be lost for when
energy resources are extracted. Hydro dams can flood large areas, while the facilities
associated with oil sands development can affect forests and disrupt animal movements and
migrations. On the other hand, solar energy can provide a continuous supply of energy, which
is integrated directly into buildings so that it has very little impact on land use. Run-of-river
hydro plants can be designed to allow for free flow of existing streams.

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Unlimited Supplies

Renewable energy supplies will never run out. While the supplies of coal, oil, and natural gas
are limited, sunshine, wind, biomass, and water power are considered almost limitless
resources.

Jobs and the Economy

Renewable energy can be developed in such a way that every household or neighbourhood
could have its own renewable power generating equipment. This would create many new jobs
for people involved in setting up and maintaining this energy supply, and in manufacturing
the equipment. It is also more efficient to produce renewable energy in small amounts right
where it is needed. The energy losses and equipment needed to transmit power over long
distances can also be minimized in this way.

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2. SOLAR ENERGY
Solar power is the conversion of sunlight to electricity or heat. It can be converted directly
into electricity using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly with concentrating solar
power (CSP). The solar power generation is either stored or instantly used to provide
continuous power.

Grid-connected and off- grid systems

More developed countries have started to build solar power plants grid-connected, replacing
other sources of energy generation for their daily demand and offering special stimulations to
spread the consume of this illimitable resource, often combined with other renewable
technologies and with public network.

On the other hand, solar energy has the enormous potential to also cover places which have
no access to electricity network or where building a system of wires or pipelines to carry
energy is relatively expensive.

Off-grid means supplying your own power, having no connection to any network of energy
distribution. For many rural communities, solar technologies off-grid have several advantages
over grid extension. They can be located closer to the demand, therefore distribution and
transmission cost and consequently energy and capacity loss are reduced. Systems become
independent from the electricity networks policies and supplies. Peak electricity consumption
in rural communities can be satisfied, while solar systems have their highest efficiency during
the day. From a social point of view, they can create more employment, in particular for the
local workforce, among the installation, operation of the equipment in different sectors and
giving maintenance; strengthening the economy by an effective and sustainable utilization of
the local resource. In environmental terms, they will provide benefits reducing emissions of
air pollutants, offsetting greenhouse gases, decreasing the usage of fossil fuels and protecting
the natural biomass reserves around the region.

For some communities in developing countries off-grid systems represent the only alternative
to satisfy their most basic electrical needs. Solar energy used in a bigger scale plays an
important role for their development. 3

Applications of solar technologies

Solar technologies roughly consist in converting sunlight into heat or electricity. The most
typical applications are

• Electrical generation
• Water heating
• Cooking
• Powering machines and vehicles
• Agriculture and horticulture
• Heating, cooling and ventilation
• Solar lighting
• Water treatment

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• Industrial processes
• Desalinization plants

World insolation
Our planet doesn’t receive the irradiation of the sun equal, during the day among the year. The
amount of electricity produced by a solar panel depends on several factors, such as typical
weather patterns, sun’s angle relative to the panel and amount of the earth's atmosphere the
light is passing through.

The most important factor in reflective loss depends on latitude or location of the site. This
means, that during winter is produced the least sunlight because of shorter days and increased
cloud cover, as well as the sun's lower position in the sky. Usually, averages are meassured in
two periods June - July and December - January.

For countries which are located closer to the tropics or between them, solar insolation is high
almost all the year. This is an awesome property considering the potential of building solar
centrals on-grid and off-grid. Too many countries can take advantage of their location.

The image below roughly represents the zones where instalation of solar energy systems is
profitable. 4

Cortesy of ICP Solar Maps

Insolation, or sunlight intensity is measured in peak sun hours. One hour of maximum, or
100% sunshine received by a solar panel equals one equivalent full or peak sun hour, at sea
level. It is expressed as kilowatt-hours per square meter per day (kWh/M2/day).

The most productive hours of sunlight are from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., around solar noon.
When the sun is directly overhead, the distance from the sun to the solar panel is the shortest.
Thus, the light is passing through the least amount of atmosphere with the least amount of
reflection, and the panel produces the most energy. In the morning and evening, the sun is
lower in the sky, and sunlight passes through more atmosphere, and has a greater angle of
reflection. During these periods the panel receives less sunlight to make power.

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Disadvantages of the solar energy

- The main disadvantage of the solar energy lies in its incapacity of having a
continual and constant current flow. By night the solar panels get useless and in
winter or during a very cloudy day, the current can severely decrease.

- The initial cost of the solar systems is also said to be a serious disadvantage. As the
price of the solar equipment decreases, we are likely to see an increase in the use of
the technology.

- A more powerful solar installation requires a larger area to be placed. This may be a
disadvantage in areas where space is limited, or expensive, due to possible
obstructions from the surrounding buildings or landscape. In rural communities or
where settlements are widely located, this is not often a problem.

- Stability of solar cells, dirtiness on the surface and other physic factors can be
influenced by natural effects in the region and can decrease the efficiency of the
systems. In case of breakdowns, recovery of the systems is most of the times
delimited by infrastructure of the local community and surroundings.

- Off-grid systems are not connected to the utility grid, as a result of which they need
batteries to store electricity and continue supplying during off-peak demand periods.
Production of batteries in-mass can yield to an excessively production of waste.

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Photovoltaic systems (PV)

Photovoltaic systems use sunlight to power ordinary electrical equipment. A PV cell consists
of two or more thin layers of semi-conducting material, most commonly silicon. When the
silicon is exposed to light, electrical charges are generated and this can be conducted away by
wires as direct current (DC). The electrical output from a single cell is small, so multiple cells
are connected together and encapsulated (usually behind glass) to form a module or panel.5

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