Sebastian Groh
Jonas van der Straeten
Brian Edlefsen Lasch
Dimitry Gershenson
Walter Leal Filho
Daniel M. Kammen
Description:
The study investigates a bottom-up concept for microgrids. A financial
analysis is performed through a business model approach to test for viability when
replacing a researched energy expenditure baseline in Bangladesh. A case study of
Bangladesh illustrates the potential for building on the existing infrastructure base
of solar home systems. Opportunities are identified to improve access to reliable
energy through a microgrid approach that aims at community-driven economic and
infrastructure development. Network effects are generated through the inclusion of
localized economies with strong producer-consumer linkages embedded within
larger systems of trade and exchange. The analyzed approach involves the linkage
of individual stand-alone energy systems to form a microgrid that can eventually
interconnect with national or regional grids. The approach is linked to the concept
of swarm intelligence, where each individual node brings independent input to
create a conglomerate of value greater than the sum of its parts.