Feasibility Study and Simulation of Optimal Power System for Off-Grid Voter Registration Centres

Abstract

There are cases of disenfranchising eligible voters during registration exercises due to unreliable power supply or no access to electricity in powering the Direct Data Capturing Machines (DDCMs) that is used for the registration of voters in polling stations or registration centres. This paper proposes to design an optimized PV-Battery energy system with an energy management system that will be used to control the operations of power supply (supply the load and charge the Battery) at the registration centres in Nigeria. This research is focused on the simulation of Photovoltaic power generation system with energy storage and management system for off-grid voter registration centres in two locations - Nkanu-West (Enugu State – which covers the southern part of the nation) and Kaura (Kaduna State – covering the northern part of the nation). The developed power control system was used to study the operations of the PV-Battery energy system. From the control output results, it was shown that the load and the supplied energy is efficiently and rationally utilized. A simulation analysis was performed using hybrid optimization model for electric renewables (HOMER) software and the results indicate that the most optimized PV-Battery power system for energy consumption of 2.3kWh/day with a 235W peak demand load consists of 0.9 kW solar PV array, 9 Hoppecke 24 OPzS 300 Battery and a 1kW DC/AC inverter. This energy system can be used in any other registration exercises such as the National Identity Registration or Examination registration etc., and may also be applied to other regions of the country.

Keywords

• Direct Data Capturing Machines (DDCMs), Power Supply, Solar – PV System, System Design, HOMER

References

1. Nigeria’s Voter Registration is World’s Most Expensive Government. http://www.gistmania.com/talk/topic,42765.0.html[Acce ssed on 12/01/2014] [2] Voter Registration and http://www.citizensadvocatenews.com/index.php/editori al/3-voter-registration-and-credible-election[Accessed on 21/06/2014] Credible Election.
2. Ani, V. A., (2014) Energy Optimization at GSM Base Station Sites Located in Rural Areas. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Nigeria.
3. Elhadidy, M.A. and Shaahid, SM. (2004). Role of hybrid (wind + diesel) power systems in meeting commercial loads. Renewable Energy, 29 (12), 109–118.
4. Nema, P., Nema, R.K., and Rangnekar, S. (2007, March). Sizing and methodology of pv-solar/wind hybrid energy systems. Paper presented at the national conference of power electronics & intelligent control held at Malaviya National Institute of technology, Jaipur (rajasthan), India.
5. Morgan, T., Marshall, R. and Brinkworth, B., (1997). ARES-A refined simulation program for the sizing and optimization of autonomous hybrid energy systems. Solar Energy, 59 (4-6), 205-215.
6. Nfah, E.M., Ngundam, J.M., Vandenbergh, M., Schmid, J., (2008). Simulation of off-grid generation options for remote villages in Cameroon. Renewable Energy, 33, 1064–1072.
7. Rehman, S., El-Amin, I.M., Ahmad, F., Shaahid, S.M., Al-Shehri, A.M., Bakhashwain, J.M., Shash, A., (2007). Feasibility study of hybrid retrofits to an isolated off- grid diesel power plant. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 11(4), 635-653.
8. Georgilakis, P.S., (2005). State-of-the-art of decision support systems for the choice of renewable energy sources for energy supply in isolated regions. International Journal of Distributed Energy Resources, 2(2), 129-150.

9. Khan, M.J., Iqbal, M.T., (2005). Pre-­‐feasibility study of stand-­‐alone hybrid energy systems for applications in newfoundland. Renewable Energy, 30, 835-­‐854.
10. Shaahid, S.M., El-Amin, I., Rehman, S., Al-Shehri, A., Bakashwain, J., Ahmad, F., (2004). Potential of autonomous/off-grid hybrid wind-diesel power system for electrification of a remote settlement in Saudi Arabia. Wind Engineering, 28 (5), 621-628.
11. Lilienthal, P., Lambert, T., Gilman, P., (2004). Computer modeling of renewable power systems. In (Ed.) Cleveland, C.J., Encyclopedia of Energy, Elsevier Inc., 1, 633-647.
12. Ani, V. A., (2014). Optimal operational strategy for pv/wind-diesel hybrid power generation system with energy storage. International Journal of Energy Optimization 10.4018/ijeoe.2014010 107, Vol. 3, No.1. Engineering. DOI:
13. Guidelines for the Registration of Voters, Revision and Continuous Updating of the National Register of Voters (2013) content/uploads/2013/03/Voters_- Registration_Guidelines.pdf
14. http://166.78.241.65/wp
15. Ani, V. A., Nzeako, A. N., (2012). Energy optimization at GSM base station sites located in rural areas. International Journal of Energy Optimization and Engineering. DOI: 10.4018/ijeoe.2012070101, Vol.1, No.3.
16. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-Atmospheric http://eosweb. larc.nasa.gov/sse/2013, 2013.[Accessed on 12/01/2014] Science Data Center.
17. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Polling http://www.inecnigeria.org/?page_id=937%27%20?%3E Unit . [Accessed on 29/05/2014] Map.
18. Kamaruzzaman, S, Ahmad. F, Mohd. H. R, Mohd. Y, S, Mohammad. A. A, Muhammad. Y, Nowshad. A, Lim. C. H, Azami. Z, (2009). Optimization of a stand-Alone Wind/PV Hybrid System to provide Electricity for a house in Malaysia. Proceedings of the 4th IASME/WSEAS International Conference on Energy & Environment.
19. Owolabi I.E., (2008). Solar Photovoltaic power technology: Prospects and challenges for socioeconomic empowerment in Nigeria. Technical paper presented to the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) Ado-Ekiti Branch. Pg 3-5.
20. Battery Experts (2013).http://www.batteryexperts.co.za/ batteries_sealed.html. [Accessed on 01/12/2013]