Study of a Standalone Solar-Wind Hybrid Electric Energy Supply System: For Rural Electrification in Ethiopia

The book discusses about supplying electric energy from solar-wind based hybrid resources to remotely located communities detached from the main grid line in Ethiopia. The communities in mind are one of two types: the majority of the poor population residing in the countryside; and the people relocated by the Government from the overused and dry regions to the relatively productive and fertile ones in line with the long-term poverty reduction plan. The study was begun by investigating wind energy and solar energy potentials at four geographically different locations in Ethiopia by compiling data from different sources and analyzing it using a software tool. Data available for the wind is incomplete and that for solar is also only sunshine duration data. Hence, the main task of the work in determining the potentials was, based on the available data, to find a reasonably complete data. This is well explained in the book. It is based on the promising findings of these two energy potentials, wind and solar, that the feasibility study for a standalone solar-wind hybrid energy supply system is accomplished.