IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2015 - 12

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Figure 6. The average load profile (green) and battery voltage (red) for (a) Microgrid 1 and (b) Microgrid 2 in Ololailumtia, Kenya.

available energy from the grids while
not compromising reliability. This is a
delicate balance, and so far PowerGen
has erred on the side of keeping utilization factors lower in favor of maintaining a high level of grid uptime.
Even operating at this roughly 50%
utilization factor on both grids, the revenues collected through the sale of
energy are sufficient to pay for capital,
installation, battery replacement every
few years, and operating costs (property rental, metering system fees, and
maintenance). With each microgrid
installation, the development process
becomes more streamlined and efficient, bringing costs down. As the economic profile of microgrids becomes
more attractive, more and more funding will be accessible, making

significant progress toward solving the
energy access challenge in SubSaharan Africa.

case Study 2: muhuru
Bay Energy Kiosk
The second case study focuses on an
energy kiosk that was installed in
August 2014 in Muhuru Bay, Kenya.
Muhuru Bay is located on the shores of
Lake Victoria, close to the Tanzanian
border. Although a few small shops in
the business district of Muhuru Bay are
connected to the national grid, the vast
majority of households are not. As in
Ololailumtia, most people rely on kerosene lamps and flashlights for lighting.
The energy kiosk is located about
5 km from the business district,
beyond the reach of the grid. The

Figure 7. An energy kiosk (foreground) and the headmaster's house (background). (Source: Eli
Patten.)

I E E E E l e c t r i f i cati o n M agaz ine / march 2015

kiosk provides modest amounts of
energy to about 70 families through a
PBK rental program. Customers pay a
monthly fee that entitles them to the
use of a 17-Ah (204 Wh) PBK and two
energy-efficient 1-W, 90-lm LED bulbs.
The PBK can be recharged at the
kiosk as often as needed.
The PBKs feature USB ports for
charging mobile phones and ports for
lights and other devices. A low-voltage disconnect protects the battery
from excessive discharge. The kiosk
sells radios, lamps, and cold sodas
and offers a popular mobile-phonecharging service that serves about 35
customers each day.
The kiosk operates as a social
enterprise whose start-up funds were
supplied by international donors. The
technical design and business plan
were developed by volunteers and students and faculty at Seattle University.
The dual goals of the kiosk are to supply electricity to the community and to
support Kristy's Cape Academy (KCA),
a local private primary school, by providing electricity as well as financial
support from surplus revenue. The
kiosk is securely located within the
headmaster's compound, about
40 m from the headmaster's house.
The kiosk is shown in Figure 7, with
a schematic depicted in Figure 8. The
kiosk is blessed with considerable solar
and wind resources due to its equatorial

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2015