A Review of Load Assessment and Load Prioritization for Micro-Hybrid Power Plants in Rural Communities

Penetration of renewable energy in Sub-Saharan African countries like Zambia particularly in rural areas is seemingly very low despite having the local resources that could support development of micro-hybrid systems. The contributing factor are lack of proper load assessment and load prioritization before and after development of the micro-hybrid systems which leads to overloads and shortening of the lifespan of storage systems due to over-discharge. In this paper, several different methodologies used to assess the type of end user load for renewable energy systems and prioritization of the load are reviewed. The paper aims at outlining the selection process and assessment involved in selection of probable renewable energy source (RES) and/ energy conversion systems (ECS) and the prioritization process of loads for the solar-based energy systems. A comparison of the available methods is presented and the optimal method that should be deployed to achieve the workable load assessment and load prioritization for sustainable development of micro-hybrid renewable energy systems in rural areas is highlighted.