Pilot Low-Cost Concentrating Solar Power Systems Deployment in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Study of Implementation Challenges

Emmanuel Wendsongre Ramde, Eric Tutu Tchao, Yesuenyeagbe Atsu Kwabla Fiagbe, Jerry John Kponyo and Asakipaam Simon Atuah
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Emmanuel Wendsongre Ramde: The Brew-Hammond Energy Centre, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana
Eric Tutu Tchao: Department of Computer Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana
Yesuenyeagbe Atsu Kwabla Fiagbe: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana
Jerry John Kponyo: Department of Telecommunications Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana
Asakipaam Simon Atuah: Department of Telecommunications Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 15, 1-14

Abstract: Electricity is one of the most crucial resources that drives any given nation’s growth and development. The latest Sustainable Development Goals report indicates Africa still has a high deficit in electricity generation. Concentrating solar power seems to be a potential option to fill the deficit. That is because most of the components of concentrating solar power plants are readily available on the African market at affordable prices, and there are qualified local persons to build the plants. Pilot micro-concentrating solar power plants have been implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa and have shown promising results that could be expanded and leveraged for large-scale electricity generation. An assessment of a pilot concentrating solar power plant in the sub-region noticed one noteworthy obstacle that is the failure of the tracking system to reduce the operating energy cost of running the tracking control system and improve the multifaceted heliostat focusing behavior. This paper highlights the energy situation and the current development in concentrating solar power technology research in Africa. The paper also presents a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art solar tracking systems for central receiver systems to illustrate the current direction of research regarding the design of low-cost tracking systems in terms of computational complexity, energy consumption, and heliostat alignment accuracy.

Keywords: central receiver system; CSP development; tracking algorithms; electricity generation; Sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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