A critical review on solar home system program for Mongolian herders

Solikhuu, Purevdash (2017) A critical review on solar home system program for Mongolian herders. Masters by Coursework thesis, Murdoch University.

Abstract

In developing countries, one of the most effective ways of accessing electricity for rural people is off-grid based renewable energy electrification program. The most widely used renewable energy technology by rural household is a solar home system (SHS). These systems can supply electricity to relatively dispersed populations and require low maintenance as well as low operational costs. The capacity of the SHS used by rural families varies between 30 and 100 watts which have the potential to meet basic electrical needs. On the other hand, the option of extending the grid and alternative energy sources such as diesel engines and wind turbines are not the least cost effective and technically feasible options for providing electricity to low densely populated areas in the long term. Mongolia is the most sparsely populated nation in the world and a quarter of the population is made up of nomadic herders who live in remote areas. Herders move 3-4 times during a year with all of their belongings in search of pasture land for their livestock. Solar energy has been one of the main energy sources for herders compared to other renewable energy technologies and diesel generator because SHSs are transported easily and provide basic needs of the nomadic herders. The Mongolian Government implemented the “100,000 solar ger (tent) electrification” program between 1999 and 2012 and distributed 100,146 solar home systems to a half million herders.

This dissertation will investigate the Mongolian SHS program and identify the success and failures of the SHS program. This is based on two different surveys obtained by summarising the views of policy makers and herders who bought SHS under the program. The outcomes of these surveys will be used to provide recommendations for improving the future SHS project in Mongolia.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters by Coursework)
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Engineering and Information Technology
Supervisor(s):	Urmee, Tania
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/40487

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