Renewable Energy World | By: Livio Filice | September 28, 2017:
All across North America and the Caribbean, power outages are frequently experienced leading to power losses over short and long durations. Power outages can occur due to natural causes, such as an ice storm or hurricane but can also be caused by poor grid infrastructure, especially for homes located at the end of the line in rural communities.
The Caribbean region is home to at least 28 island nations and more than 7,000 individual islands with a population of around 40 million which are all exposed to disasters. In this region power outages are common; all the islands have issues especially after hurricanes, which can leave entire regions without power for weeks.
Generators are a popular item throughout these regions as they are readily available and have an attractive entry level cost.
However, when looking at the total lifetime cost of ownership they quickly become expensive. Most families who experience power loss will run generators in the morning and in the evening only, so having a generator is not a guarantee of constant power.
Further, a generator assumes the availability of a fuel source such as propane or liquid natural gas. So even if a generator is in place, there is no guarantee that fuel can be sourced especially in the event of a long duration power outage, limiting generators as a solution to short-term power outages.
Generators are noisy and require a lot of space. Most urban locations are too difficult to install a generator. Getting fuel to an urban generator is a nightmare. Storing it, nightmare.
A growing number of residential solar PV systems continue to be installed throughout North America and the Caribbean. The growth in the residential PV market is being driven by lower cost of solar equipment, new financing models, and increasing cost of electricity.
One emerging concept is the possibility to utilize the solar PV asset as a backup power source in conjunction with a residential energy storage system.
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