Levelling up the global grid

If you are a lucky one living with a resilient electric grid, happy days.

But consider those too far away geographically or economically to join in the energy bonanza the fortunate have taken for granted for their entire lives.

For the fortunate, running out of battery on your mobile phone is a minor irritation, quickly solved when you get home. In many less-fortunate parts of the world, charging a phone involves a long walk to a shop, and a long wait while the phone charges – an exercise that must be done at least every week.  A laptop isn't even an option – and a printer? Well, forget it!

Think into that, then scale it up to a continent and you will have an idea how life is in most of Africa and in countries like Myanmar, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea.

With no electricity, much of our accustomed activity is restricted to the daylight hours. There are no streetlights to make your environment safe at night, and with only a smoky kerosene lamp indoors, reading is impossible. There is no television, no power tools for fixing your house, no refrigeration for your food, even if the temperature is in the forties. Businesses have to function without machinery, unless human or animal powered. Without electricity, life is tough.

The African Union places ‘increased peace and reduction in the number of conflicts’ high up on their agenda and ‘infrastructure development’ is recognised as a key factor to be addressed in that pursuit. Electricity is a necessity for any nation wishing to participate in global markets. But is an interconnected grid like those found in the Americas and Europe the best way to deliver the benefits of electricity to rural Africa and other stranded nations?

The energy-access equation is illustrated well by Energy Sector Management Assistant Program (ESMAP). It is not straightforward and countries that are making 3% year on year progress are described as doing well. The video by World Bank to end energy poverty further highlights the issue at hand.

PV microgrids are part of the answer but these are not always popular with recipients. Anecdotally, some beneficiaries have seen themselves as being fobbed off with a poor relation of ‘real electricity’. Unpacking that term, we find that many want electricity that gives them access to the same appliances the fortunate ones enjoy e.g. TVs, washing machines and of course computers.

Now here’s the thing, it’s expensive to own and operate the inverter you need to run standard appliances on a microgrid. Furthermore, this setup is liable to ‘dip out’ when the sun stops shining unless you have storage, which is another expense.

You might ask; ‘What if there were abundant affordable microgrid compatible appliances available?’. There are none.

Why not? Because there is no market for them.

Why not? Not enough microgrids.

Why not? No appliances for them.

Catch 22.

Next steps

What can we the fortunate ones do to help here?

We can have the will to inconvenience ourselves temporarily. To innovate, challenge and question the status quo!

We can create space in our infrastructure for appliances which can play as well on rural microgrids as they do on our reliable and resilient super grids.

We can go the extra mile to create connectivity in our homes and offices which can utilise renewable direct current (DC) electricity for the same appliances needed in rural communities.

The flip to electric vehicles (EVs) from gas-guzzlers that not long ago seemed impossible is now happening! The storage that will sit on our drives and streets when EVs proliferate will only strengthen the case for the move away from spinning-inertia AC generation to renewable DC.

If we can flip car production lines, we can flip appliance production lines.

Let’s come up with a good DC appliance standard so that within five years we can replace that dead computer or washing machine with the same appliance that will be whirring away happily in a sustainable and enabled rural community.

Inter-connecting a super-grid isn’t the only way to level up global electricity, we can level up for many just by adapting appliances.

Key considerations

• How do we create or adapt infrastructure within homes or workplaces so that DC appliances can be adopted?
• Micro-grids have their limits, these should be established as part of infrastructure planning.
• DC electricity is a different beast to AC. Controls, conductors and connectors will need to be re-evaluated and, in many instances, redesigned.