Issues and applications of real-time data from off-grid electrical systems

Off-grid systems are a pathway to electrification for millions of people located far from the existing grid. However, the premature failure and underutilization of these systems are difficult to prevent. Advances in data acquisition hardware, the expansion of cellular communication networks and cloud-based solutions have made data collection, monitoring, archival and even remote interaction with off-grid systems a possibility. The co-installation of data acquisition hardware with off-grid systems is not a wide-spread practice, and use cases of the data have not been popularized. This paper discusses the technology, applications and considerations related to off-grid data acquisition and monitoring. Data from several off-grid systems in Sub-Saharan Africa are used to illustrate the applications.