Design and costing of a stand-alone solar photovoltaic system for a Tanzanian rural household

Access to energy is essential to reduce poverty. In Tanzania electricity is available to about 24% of the population; 93% of rural households lack access to electricity. Most of these houses are sparsely populated; this makes national grid extension to such areas economically unviable. Solar home systems present a huge promise for these areas but, most of the villagers do not think of solar photovoltaic (PV) system as a cost effective solution to electricity shortage. Aiming at stressing the applicability of solar PV technology in Tanzania, this paper presents a design and costing of a stand-alone solar PV system for a Tanzanian rural household; highlighting some common mistakes done in sizing, installing and maintaining solar home systems. The design is done in two different fashions: (i) The entire system sized as a single system. (ii) The system divided into three subsystems or phases. The paper gives a total cost of the designed systems’ components as US$ 422.5 for the entire system sized as a single system, US$ 197.5 for subsystem one (lighting system), US$ 107.5 for subsystem two, and US$ 155.5 for subsystem three.