Case Study

On
Photo-Voltaic Microgrid Plant at Mendil
Microgrid is a small generation unit/plant placed near the consumer premises to provide
reliable power supply to the consumers. It has the capability to balance demand-supply gap to
provide grid stability and reliability. Basically, microgrid consists of distributed energy
resources (DER) like wind, solar, fuel cells, battery storage, biomass, small hydro etc
connected to form the whole system. The capacity of the microgrid may vary from 1 KW to 62
MW approximately.

Now due to advent of technology and connectivity in the market microgrid has been enhanced
with necessary modern features which increases the dependability/ reliability on the system.
Conventionally when the Microgrid was installed in remote place a designated technician had
to be stationed to cater the maintainence or problem incurred during operations. Due to which
the generating cost of the Microgrid had increased substantially. Above figure shows the
modern of the AC Solar PV Microgrid plant with remote monitoring system and energy data
logger. By introducing a Smart Energy Management System (SEMS) with communication
unit the reliability is increased. The basic function of the unit is to remotely to keep a track on
the system health, performance and other parameters. The communication unit consists of a
RF module to facilitate remote data communication to the energy data logger present inside
the module and in cases where long distance transmission of data has to be done GPRS
communication is opted.

Location:
This is a case study of a PV microgrid at a vilage called Mendil, located in North Karnataka
inside Bhimgad Reserve Forest area. Due to the dense forest the penetration of electric grid
was not a viable option; the village has never been electrified. This hamlet contains only 15
people. People up till now have been using diesel sets for basic amenities like getting drinking
water from the forest, but since getting fuel is not economically feasible people have not using
it on regular basis and have resorted to manually transporting water via pots. Without lights
during the night people refrain from going outside their houses in fear of wild animals or
snakes.

Figure 1: View of the pilot project area -Mendil

Pilot Target:
The intension is to improve the livelihood of the people in the hamlet and address the issues
faced by them and provide connectivity to the urban areas in terms of knowledge.
2 KW PV microgrid system is equipped with Energy Data Logging, Monitoring and
Controlling Features. On deploying this a eco friendly, cost-effective and reliable electricity
system can be achieved. By remote monitoring, there will be a check on system health and
performance. Along with this, a wind vane is installed for weather report of the particular area.

Figure 2: AC Solar PV microgrid plant

The location where it ahs been installed environmental aspects

Figure 10: A wind vane

Why is weather data so important
Advantages of AC microgrid over DC microgrid:
1.

Appliances such as bulbs, TV etc are available in AC power in the market whereas getting
these in DC power is difficult. The cost of DC systems are expensive than AC systems

2.

A diesel generator (AC power source) can be connected to the system to ensure the
consumers are not deprived of electric power during some maintenance or emergency
situations.

Benefits of the pilot project:

There are different kinds of benefits which include economic, social benefits. The achieved
benefits are:
1) This pilot has facilitated in the upliftment of the livelihood of the people in Mendil village
in terms of connectivity and people have also bought TV sets by which they are well
connected with rest of the world. As conventionally they had to travel near the city for
charging their phones and get any information.
2) Efficient power is provided to the people as compared to the grid power where there is
considerable losses involved.
3) Reliable power supply is provided by the stand alone microgrid system. This pilot ensures
24x7 continous and reliable power supply to the people of Mendi though out the year. For
example villages in india have maximum of 12 hours power supply, during summers they
have power supply of only 3 hours in a day. Due to microgrid project these farmers enjoy
24 hours power supply.
4) Installation cost of microgrid is economical as compared to convention grid as pole, cable
implementation charges are very high in this terrain.
5) Load demand on the electric grid is eliminated and stability improves preventing
scenarios of any short or faults that may occur due to animals or trees in the forest.
For example, this pilot has 2 KW capacity and can provide 7 units(i.e) 7000Wh of
electricity. Generally , the generation will be double of the electricity usage(7000Wh)
accounting for losses involved during transmission & Distribution of electricity to be
generated which is saved by utility on the generation .
6) The other benefits which was noticed was people from the nearby villages welcomed the
idea of microgrid to a large extent. They have installed solar cells on their houses to
provide power for their personnel use as shown in below.

Figure 12: Rooftop Solar PV in a house in Mendil

Table 1 provides the detailed survey report of the AC solar PV microgrid plant in Mendil
village

Sl.No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

DETAILS
Village
District
State
Co-ordinates
No. of households
Total number of people
Village approachable by road (Y/N)
Drinker water facility available
(Y/N)
& MIG/HIG group
Source of Income
Type of grid

DESCRIPTION
MENDIL
UTTARA KANNADA
KARNATAKA
1531'58.3"N 7419'22.5"E
4
20
Y Rough terrain
Y One 1000L tank
100% MIG
Paddy Farming
AC microgrid

12

Type of Power Generation

SPV

13
14
15

Plant capacity
Construction starting date/time
Construction ending date/time

2kWp
2003
2004

16

Panel Used

17

No. of Modules

18

Charge controller

19

Inverter

Su-kam fusion series 2.5kVA, 220V, 50Hz, Pure

sinewave Inverter

20

Battery

Exide Inva tubular, IT750, 200Ah, 4 nos.

21

ACDB/DCDB Details

22

Loads per HH

23

Tariff Mechanism

24

No. Of hours of power distributed

25

Distribution mechanism

26

Metering

27

No. of Years of operation

28

Changes in tariff or any other detail

29

O&M by

Vikram solar, 250Wp, and 2 local modules on the

roof.
8
Maruthi SCC, 48V 30A I/p

Elmeasure
1, 40W tungsten bulb + 2, 5W LED + ~25W LCD
TV + DTH dish all powered by solar.
Free from the beginning
24
Simple pole wire system
ACDB, Wh meter at every home with MCB
12
Water is pumped to 1000L tank by a simple motor,
Solar lamp at every home Rs. 3000 kit containing
lamp + 2 3W panels.
Monthly, unknown