The Baikampady Mangalore Microgrid is a microgrid in India by SELCO foundation in Karnataka.
About the site
The entrepreneur who owns and operates the micro-grid system inherited the property from his father. The land is used as a plantation for coconuts, bananas, and other plants. Previously, the owner rented land to laborers who lived in makeshift tarpaulin tents. Due to a court order and community pressure, the owner was required to construct basic apartments for the resident laborers. Prior to installing the mini-grid system, residents would primarily use kerosene for light at a cost of 150-200 Rs per month. The kerosene was difficult to procure and poses health and safety risks. Residents would pay an additional 60-70 Rs per month for mobile charging. Grid power is available at the site, but there were a number of drawbacks to directly using the grid. First, government agencies do not recognize the site as a formal settlement so there was a regulatory risk to installing grid electricity. Second, the electricity service in this area is not reliable. And finally, the electric service provider charges a minimum fee for each meter even if no power is consumed. As this housing is used by migrant day-laborers, the houses are not fully occupied year-round. A solar PV micro-grid was therefore suggested, making use of the land-owner to build a sustainable model. PV and Battery Location 15 larger houses 60 houses Open well Industrial Area Good road access Coconut plantation Residential Area The site Sea
Organizations Involved
Additional Details
Loads powered: 60 1-room houses (3m x 4m) with 1 light + mobile charger – 140Rs/month charge. 15 larger houses (10m x 10m) with 2 light + mobile charger + power for fan and TV – 200Rs/month charge
Transmission: 96VDC, Aluminium single core wire in PVC pipe
Household connection: Clusters of houses had copper wire connection, junction boxes for Aluminium to Copper connection
Household wiring: Copper with standard consumables Load control: Fuses for each house limit power consumption. Timing is centrally & manually controlled by Entrepreneur
Loads used: 96VDC LED lights, 3W. Standard AC universal power supplies work on 96VDC, so standard TVs, mobile chargers and 12V adapter for fans were used.
Monitoring: Data logger installed to measure and monitor usage. No remote connection: data must be downloaded locally Panels mounted-top of on land-owner’s house roof Batteries and 96VDC charge regulator stored inside room on side of land-owner’s house Two load lines for two sections of the community. Load switched on with MCBs by entrepreneur
Data-logger to record and monitor load use and solar generation 15 larger houses 60 smaller houses
Batteries: 8x 200Ah, 12V, series connection, Primetech Charge controller: Customer made Solar + Grid 96VDC charger, Solar-Battery-Grid priority, Power One
4x 300W, 24V, series connection, EmmVee
Location
Kochi - Panvel Hwy, New Mangalore, Baikampady, Mangaluru, Karnataka 575011, India
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