Development of a Model for Techno-economic Assessment of a Stand-alone Off-grid Solar Photovoltaic System in Bangladesh

Electricity production by solar energy can reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) which is a big environmental concern around the globe especially in the countries like Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a small country in South Asia with a huge population. The country has many isolated areas that are not connected to the national grid. People living in those off-grid areas mainly use diesel generators that emit GHGs into the atmosphere contributing to global warming. Electricity production using solar energy can be an attractive alternative from economic and environmental perspective. The present study attempts to conduct a techno-economic assessment by developing a bottom-up data-intensive spread-sheet-based model. The model estimates the unit cost of electricity generated by a 3.40 kW(p) stand-alone solar photovoltaic system (PV) for an isolated locality in Char Godagari, Rajshahi. The island has geographical coordinates of 24 degrees 28'6"N and 88 degrees 19'25"E and is situated in Rajshahi district. The unit cost of electricity by solar energy was found to be $0.72/kWh or 55.47 Bangladeshi Taka (BDT)/kWh with a net present cost of $12,027.83 or BDT 926,142.55 for the selected location, Char Godagari. The results show that battery is the most expensive component of the solar PV system. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to see the impact of various input parameters on the unit cost of electricity.