Postgraduate Program Microenergy Systems

Center for Technology and Society

Technische Universität Berlin

Sekr. HBS 1, Hardenbergstrasse 16-18

10623 Berlin

http://www.tu-berlin.de/microenergysystems

Postgraduate Program

Microenergy Systems

sponsored by

Abstract

Against the background of an urgent need to transform

the energy sector on a global scale, this thesis elaborates

on a bottom-up decentralized development pathway.

A huge potential of application stems from the more than

1.3 billion people in the Global South who are not

connected to an electricity grid. The swarm electrification

concept is building on a smart integration of existing

infrastructure and unused resources. One potential

starting point are the more than three million solar home

systems in Bangladesh (Figure 2). The thesis elaborates on

the socio-technical knowhow required for the layout of

this bottom-up electrification pathway.

Background

The ex-ante outlined general swarm electrification scheme

includes four main stages (Figure 1):

Stage 1: starting point: solar home systems

Stage 2: small microgrid cluster

Stage 3: bottom-up, sharing-based microgrid

Stage 4: connection to the main grid

A dynamic bottom-up process with organic

development based on sharing access to

renewable energies?

Research Objectives

• To identify criteria for a general framework of the

development pathway

• To elaborate on the layout of the technical systems

including control and protection

• To validate the design of the technology and evaluate

the designed pathway

Methods

The research methods address the objectives through

an interdisciplinary approach using methods from

social sciences and engineering:

• Literature review and expert interviews

• Field study in Bangladesh

• Layout of technology and control regime design

• Technical validation

• Multi-criteria evaluation

Expected Results and Dissemination

The aim of this thesis is to lay the scientific groundwork

for an implementation. The potential for a dynamic

transition to renewable-energy-based infrastructure give

the research relevance not only for the Global South

but also the Global North.

Hannes Kirchhoff

kirchhoff@ztg.tu-berlin.de

Mobile:+49 171 155 21 41

Bottom-Up Swarm Electrification with Renewable

Energies in the Global South

Layout and Value of a Development Pathway with Sharing-Based

Energy Infrastructure

PhD-Student: Hannes Kirchhoff (M.Sc.), Super-Visor: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kai Strunz

Figure 2: Solar home systems at field study site in Bangladesh (Kirchhoff)

Stage 4Stage 3

Stage 2Stage 1

Figure 1: Bottom-up swarm electrification scheme (Kirchhoff 2013)