Rainbow Power Company has signed a contract to provide consultancy, training services and solar photovoltaic (PV) equipment to a project to provide PV-powered mini-grids to 49 villages in Western Province, Papua New Guinea.
Villages will receive a three-phase solar/battery/inverter system that will supply electricity for lighting, television, phone charging and a community cool room. The PV systems will range between 11 and 22 kW each, for a total of 650 kW.
The project will comprise 3,250 Trina Solar PV modules, 11,000 kWh of batteries and SMA inverters, which will provide 240/415 volt power. RPC states that it has selected high quality equipment for the project, as reliability is a prime concern in remote areas.
275 solar home systems will be provided to houses too remote to connect to mini-grids. These solar home systems will be powered by 90 watt PV modules which will supply power for 3 Sundaya LED lights, a stereo and mobile phone charging.
An estimated 3,400 houses with a population of 33,900 will benefit from the project, which RPC notes currently use kerosene lanterns to provide lighting. In this remote part of Papua New Guinea, only 20% of the population has access to electricity, mostly through diesel generators.