Power supply of a rural off-grid health center — A case study

Presently, more than 7 million Haitians have no access to power nor basic energy related services. Available generation capacity of Haiti reaches 212 MW, which is insufficient to meet the estimated peak demand of more than 500 MW in the whole country. This deficit severely impacts basic essential facilities such as health care centers. The IEEE Student Branch PES Chapter at Georgia Tech established a project to design and implement a microgrid to supply power to a recently established health center in the mountains of Thoman, Haiti. Several combinations of power generating units were evaluated on an economic basis, including: a standalone diesel generator (DG), photovoltaic (PV) panels with batteries, and PV panels with batteries and a DG. Key parameters including power rating, daily energy production, maximum annual capacity shortage, etc., were also incorporated into the economic evaluation. This paper outlines the preliminary microgrid design steps, assessment of topology alternatives, site visit, detailed design and the fundraising process. Only commercial off-the-shelf parts were considered for device selection. To verify the preliminary design, a site visit was conducted in February 2015. Installation and commissioning is expected to take place later this year.