COMPARATIVE-STUDY IN SUPPLYING ELECTRICAL ENERGY TO SMALL REMOTE LOADS IN LIBYA

The main sources of energy that might be available in remote low popul ated areas Libya are either diesel generating units or wind rr;ills fo r water pumping. Several problems in the working performance of these two types of energy production may arise due to environmental conditio ns. The lack of qualified technicians for regular and emergency mainte nance reduces the energy sources' availability. Direct conversion of s olar energy can replace other ways of energy delivery or production, s pecially in this country where the solar radiation all over the year i s relatively high. On the other hand the direct conversion of solar en ergy is relatively expensive, however the cost of erecting long feeder s and supervising them may be much expensive than the usage of solar s ystems. This paper investigates the economics associated with either s olutions of energy production. A case study is given in details to sup ply one of the remote areas with population of about 250. (C) 1998 Pub lished by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.