Rural electrification based on renewable energies. A Review

Rural environments present different electrification needs compared with the urban industrial areas. Tho se particularities imply rethinking electrification st rategies taking into consideration economical, social and environme ntal aspects. In that respect, renewable distributed generation l inked with microgrids presents interesting features for remote or sparsely populated areas. This paper presents the environmen tal advantages of using renewable generation, and displ ays a comparative characterization of rural/urban loads, a discussion of the most extended microgrid topologies, a comparati ve of available storage techniques and a literature revie w of the main steps in the process of designing a new microgrid.