Design of Microsmart Grid Fuzzy Controlled Model for Sustainable Power Supply in Rural India

Abstract

India is facing acute shortage of electricity especially in rural sectors due to shrinking of conventional grid supply. The expansion of grid network has become almost standstill due to depletion of raw material (i.e., fuel, coal, etc.) day by day. As a result, the sustainability of utility (grid) power supply to rural houses has become poor. In this paper, a fuzzy control-based microsmart grid model has been proposed and developed for Indian rural society to overcome such constraints by integrating renewable sources like solar, etc., with conventional grid. Attempt has been made to provide good quality 24 × 7 power supply to rural houses for a base load of 300 W with grid power saving up to 50% or more. Sensitivity analysis on varying load profile up to 1 kW on a prototype module has been done and implemented in an Indian village of Jharkhand. Impact study of rural electrification on generation of self/wage employment through vocational literacy classes among potential youth in rural society, has been carried out over a period of one year with encouraging results.