Technical and Economic Analysis of a PV/Diesel Hybrid System Applied to Rural Electrification for Isolated Communities in the Northern Brazilian Region

A technical and economic feasibility analysis on a hybrid photovoltaic-diesel system is presented for a typical village located in the northern Brazilian rain forest region. A 24 kW photovoltaic system is proposed to be installed on a hybrid configuration with a 150 kVA existing diesel generator. Based on electricity demand profiles and current costs, the analysis shows a payback time which is still too long and not economically attractive without government subsidies. However, with the declining costs of photovoltaic technology predicted for the next few years and the continuously increasing costs of diesel, the hybrid photovoltaic-diesel systems may become economically viable, thus representing a huge potential in the near future. Real electricity demand profiles are also presented for several typical isolated communities located in that region