Solar-hybrid system design for the village people of La Llanes, El Salvador

While access to electricity in El Salvador is high, about 92% according to the World Bank, there are still many communities without access to power. Typically these communities are made up of poor, small villages in remote areas. Because they´re difficult to access and because the populations are not sizeable, power providers and the government are slow or unwilling to bring power to them. This paper explores the design process for a hybrid solar-diesel power system for a remote village in El Salvador. La Llanes is a small village in Usulután El Salvador with a population of 60 people living in 19 homes. It´s located approximately at 13.5 degrees North and 88.5 degrees West. The design will aim to meet the daily load with solar power most of the time with a battery bank to get through the nighttime hours as well as rainy and cloudy days. A generator will be included in the design to provide backup power during extended periods of low sun. The amount of time the generator is run will be minimized to reduce fuel costs and pollution. To achieve this, the solar system and battery bank will need to be appropriately sized. The completed design yielded a cost of $0.37/kWh over the 20 year life span of the system. Compare this with the cost of running the generator at $0.70/kWh. As solar panel technology advances and becomes more affordable, and as fossil fuels become more scarce and expensive, the best solutions for powering remote locations will include solar power.