The Bridge - Issue 3, 2020 - 40

Spotlight on Smart Village

A Goal for Safe and Reliable Off-Grid Communities
John Nelson, IEEE Smart Village-Next Generation (ISVx) Chair

IEEE Smart Village (ISV) has a mission to
integrate sustainable electricity, education,
and entrepreneurial solutions to empower
off-grid communities.
ISV is not a charity that provides money and walks
away. Rather than giving a fish to a hungry person,
ISV provides the fishing pole so that the person
can feed not only himself or herself, but can use
the fishing pole to feed the entire community, and
make a profit doing so. Unlike fishing though, there
are dangers and hazards involved with providing
electricity, especially to those who have never been
exposed to the hazards of electricity.

During the August 2020 IEEE Power Africa
Virtual Conference, one of the sessions included
a 90-minute panel discussion with audience
participation. Representatives from North America,
India, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo and
Angola were the panelists. The first 60 minutes
included a moderated panel discussion among the
expert panelists. The question-and-answer period
was lively, especially by those involved with microgrids who were voicing concerns.

Arc Flash Testing for IEEE Std 1584

Dangerous Arc Flash Incident

Electricity provides many benefits for empowering
people and improving the standard of living.
However, electricity is colorless, odorless and
tasteless. It can also be dangerous in that it can
shock, injure, burn and even kill a person. That is
why ISV recently introduced a new Electrical Safety,
Reliability and Standards Committee, which oversees
issues surrounding the introduction of electricity,
especially to an off-grid community.

THE BRIDGE

Electrical safety, according to the panelists, must be
interwoven into a safety culture involving government
standards, codes, regulations and enforcement.
It must include a top-down approach, in which
businesses must take electric safety seriously. It also
requires education and training of electrical workers
as well as the general public. For instance, a downed
conductor may show no indications of being
energized. But like that passive cobra, it can reach
out and strike an unsuspecting person. It has been
reported that fatalities from improperly maintained
overhead power lines are a very serious issue: More
than 22 people are electrocuted daily in India from
overhead power lines.
Electrical Standards, again according to the panelists,
are either inconsistent or non-existent in many
developing countries where ISV and others are
installing micro-grids.

https://www.ieee-pes.org/ https://cmte.ieee.org/pes-rsicc/ https://cmte.ieee.org/pes-rsicc/ https://cmte.ieee.org/pes-rsicc/ https://pes-yp.org/ https://www.ieee-pes.org/technical-activities https://www.ieee-pes.org/images/files/Technical_Activities/pes-committee-brochure.pdf https://hkn.ieee.org/ https://hkn.ieee.org/

The Bridge - Issue 3, 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Bridge - Issue 3, 2020