New Lighting Technologies in Developing Countries-Case Sudan A. Amogpai1, E. Tetri1, L. Halonen1
Abstract-Sudan is the largest country in Africa with an area of about 2.5 million square kilometers. The population is estimated to be 36 million. Electricity and lighting can play a crucial role in improving the lives of Sudanese people. About 70% of the Sudanese population live in rural and remote areas and have no access to electricity. Electric lighting is mainly used only in urban areas. The common light sources in these regions are incandescent and fluorescent lamps. The excessive cost of fluorescent lamps and the lack of efficient lighting products are the main barriers to purchase these light sources in Khartoum, central Sudan, and isolated towns. Fuel-based lighting is the most common source of lighting used in the households of Sudan who are without access to electricity. So far, these light sources are inefficient and they cause a lot of health problems to their users. Use of white LED lighting combined with PV solar panels systems could make an impact on the rural and remote areas lighting systems in Sudan. For example, a 1 W white LED can generate more light better than that of fuel-based lighting sources and can produce up to 40 lm. The illumination of this LED is more effective for tasks lighting such as reading. A 1 W white LED can provide illumination level ranging from 40 to 600 lx on the task surface. This paper gives an overview on the electricity generation and lighting usage in Sudan. Renewable energy technologies are proposed to provide clean and reliable sources of electric energy for the Sudanese population. Combining LED lighting with PV panels can contribute to reduce the use of biomass and fuel based lighting, as well as reducing indoor air pollution in the households of rural and remote areas of Sudan.
Keywords: Renewable Energy, Electricity, Lighting, LED Lighting 1. Introduction Sudan is the largest country in Africa with an area of about 2.5 million square kilometers. The population is estimated to be 36 million. Sudan has borders with nine African countries: Egypt and Libya in the north, Chad and Central African Republic in the west, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Kenya in the south, Ethiopia, Eritrea plus the Red Sea in the east. Sudan’s climate is divided into tropical in the south and desert in the north. The northern parts of the country experience higher temperatures in summer °
°
ranging from 25 C to 41 C, the winter season being quite cool in these regions. Sudan is rich in natural resources such as: water, wildlife, forest, minerals, and land. Oil has been discovered as a new source of th energy at the end of the 20 century. Still Sudan is considered as one of the least developed countries in the world [1]. About 70% of the Sudanese population live in rural and remote areas and have no access to electricity. Electric lighting is mainly used in urban areas in which the common light sources are incandescent and fluorescent lamps. The high cost of fluorescent lamps and the lack of efficient lighting products are the main barriers for these light sources in Khartoum and in isolated towns. Fuel based lighting is the main source of lighting in these rural and remote areas. LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting combined with renewable energy sources could reduce the use of biomass, kerosene, diesel, and candles for providing lighting in these areas [1]. 2. Renewable energy Sources in Sudan Solar, wind, and hydro are the main renewable energy sources in Sudan. Currently, biomass, petroleum products, and hydro are the predominant energy sources in Sudan [2] - [3]. 2.1 Solar energy Solar energy is divided into solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal systems. A solar PV system converts sunlight directly into electricity, whereas a solar thermal system utilizes sunlight for heating [4]. A solar PV system consists of PV cells, a battery, charger, and inverter. Solar PV cells are commonly made of monocrystalline and multi-crystalline silicon materials. The efficiency of these materials is variable and usually, the efficiency of a mono-crystalline system is greater than that of a multi-crystalline system. It is in the range of 6% and 15% with a lifetime of 20 to 30 years. The rated power of PV modules for energy applications generally range from several watts to 200W [5]-[6]. PV systems can be built as grid based solutions, off grid (stand alone) solutions, or as hybrid systems. Stand alone systems are mainly used in residential buildings which are not connected to the electrical network. Therefore, batteries are needed to store energy from PV 1
Helsinki University of Technology, Lighting Unit, Finland,
[email protected]
panels during the daytime. On the other hand, batteries may be required as well in grid connected systems in case of power outages. Similarly, energy produced in PV systems can also be used when the load from the utility is not sufficient. A combination of stand alone and grid connected PV systems with battery backup can be used to form hybrid systems. Theoretically, these systems are very reliable but technically and economically they are complicated and expensive [5]-[6].The availability of sunlight in Sudan is in the range of 8.5 hours/day to −2
−1
(Table 1). 10.5 hours/day, with radiation on the horizontal surface in the range of 4.9-6.7kWhm day Stand-alone PV systems can be used in rural, remote areas of Sudan that are not connected to the electrical gird network [5]-[6]. Table 1. Daily average of sunshine and radiation in Sudan [7]
Town
Sunshine (h)
Port Sudan Shambat Wad Medani Abu Na’ama Malakal Juba Dongola Toker Arona El Showak Zalingi Babnusa Kadugli
9.0 9.9 9.8 8.8 7.8 7.8 10.5 7.3 9.6 9.7 8.8 8.9 8.5
2
Radiation (kWh/ m ) 5.8 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.1 5.5 6.7 4.9 5.9 6.4 6.4 6.0 5.9
2.2 Wind energy Wind power was used for grain grinding and pumping water in earlier times. The first wind turbine for th electricity generation applications was developed in the early 20 century. About 80% of the world’s wind turbine installations are in Germany, Denmark, India, Spain, and in the US [8]. According to Betz’s law, the maximum wind power that can be extracted from the wind is about 59% of the total energy in the wind [8]. In Sudan, wind power has been used for grain grinding and water pumping but not for electricity generation [8]-[9]. The annual average wind velocity is about 5 m/s in most of the northern states and 2.5 m/s in the south of Sudan (Table 2). Small wind turbines are promising devices in Sudan for electricity generation and pumping water. Small wind turbines can be used to supply rural, remote and off grid areas with electricity and mechanical power. Electricity is used to supply homes, telecommunications, and refrigeration in these regions. Mechanical power is used for pumping water and irrigation for small farms. Small wind turbines can be used with a combination of batteries, small diesel generators, and photovoltaic systems. A small wind turbine for pumping water system can use more than twenty blades, whereas a wind turbine used for electrical power generation uses only two or three blades [8]. Table 2. Annual wind velocity and power in Sudan [7]-[9]
City/Town
Velocity (m/s)
Khartoum Wad Madani Dongola Atbara Port Sudan Toker El Fasher El Obeid Juba
4.5 4.5 5.0 4.2 5.0 4.1 3.4 3.4 1.5
2
Power (W/m ) 34.0 34.0 39.3 28.4 48.4 25.5 15.3 15.0 1.40
2.3 Hydropower Usually, hydro power plants have a low operation cost, however, their initial cost is high. They are divided into large and small: small plants consist of Mini, Micro, and Pico. Mini power capacity is in the range (500kW-10MW), Micro (10kW-500kW), and Pico (. 18. Bhusal P., Zahnd A., Eloholma M., Halonen L. Replacing Fuel Based Lighting with Light Emitting Diodes in Developing Countries: Energy and Lighting in Rural Nepali Homes. LEUKOS, The Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, Vol 3, no. 4, pp. 277–291, 2007.
