By Vijay A.

Subramony, Suryanarayana Doolla,

and Mukul Chandorkar

Microgrids in India
microgrid is defined as a control- and wind have been in use, although, recently, a major

A
lable system consisting of distributed focus has been on solar photovoltaic (PV) plants. An
sources (typically renewable energy sourc- underlying commonality in all these plants has been that
es), loads, and energy storage systems that these systems have been isolated power sources supply-
together can operate either in grid-con- ing local loads where the grid has not penetrated or is not
nected or isolated modes. Conventional microgrids in reliable due to inadequacy or inaccessibility. Recently, a
India have been microhydroelectric (hydel) power sources, 2,500-year-old monastery in the Ladhak region in the
with the oldest traced back to Sidrapong Hydel Power Sta- Himalayas was illuminated using solar PV by the Global
tion, a microhydel power plant located at an altitude of Himalayan expedition team to cater to the needs of
about 3,600 ft at the base of Arya Tea Estate, around 12 km roughly 150 monks who live there. They had never before
from  Darjeeling  town). Commissioned in 1897, this plant seen electric power lighting at night in that monastery.
consisted of two 65-kW single- India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the
phase alternators (2,300 V, world, and it is home to approximately 18% of the global
83.3 Hz). The plant was later population, with the majority living in rural areas. The
upgraded to 1,000 kW to cater to country has the fourth highest rate of energy consump-
the needs of the residents in the tion in the world, and it has been working on its power
town and neighboring tea gar- grid system to meet the ever-increasing demand for
dens. Apart from hydel, bio­­­­mass energy. However, India faces an uphill task of bridging the

Possibilities and challenges.

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windows: ©istockphoto.com/yogesh_more
Date of publication: 31 May 2017 Map:©istockphoto.com/ alexsl

2325-5987/17©2017IEEE IEEE Elec trific ation Magazine / j u n e 201 7 47

 demand-supply gap. A large percent- While work on for mini- and microgrids for the coun-
age of the Indian population (a stag- try in June 2016 (MNRE Report). This
gering 237 million people) has either the grid-extension policy aims to increase microgrid
no access to electricity or unreliable capacity to 500 MW in the next five
access to power. In fact, most house- aspect is proceeding years in the private sector. This
holds in rural areas have no electricity ahead of schedule includes the deployment of roughly
despite being connected to the grid 10,000 renewable energy-based mini-
due to the shortage of power. India’s (with more than and microscale projects averaging
US$11-billion rural electrification pro- 50 kW across the country. Some high-
gram, called Deen Dayal Upadhyaya
51% of villages lights of the policy include:
Gram Jyoti Yojna, includes an objec- already connected), xx regulated price determination for
tive to deliver power to 18,452 unelec- minigrid projects (with tariff
trified villages by 2018. Of these, 14,204 progress on the determination flexibility provided
can be served by grid extensions, and to ­operators)
the remaining 3,449 villages require
off-grid target has xx the provision of single-window
off-grid power. While work on the been very slow so clearances for seeking right of
grid-extension aspect is proceeding way and regulatory approvals,
ahead of schedule (with more than far (only about 20%). and the a­ vailability of information
51% of villages already connected), on taxes
progress on the off-grid target has xx local village committee creation
been very slow so far (only roughly 20%). The last decade to ensure payment collection, customer adoption, and
has seen substantial activity in the deployment of ac easier dispute ­resolution
microgrids, which are small, isolated power systems using xx grid connection provision to enable the sale of power
local energy resources. The thrust has been twofold: for to utilities
household consumption and for enhancement of econom- xx a renewable purchase obligation multiplier to make
ic activity. The country has also seen the emergence of interconnections enabling attractive options for
industrial microgrids that use solar PV, phasing out the use ­distribution companies
of fossil fuels. The Indian government has been working on xx the specification of standards, performance, and
policies to address the standardization of practices that ­quality.
would enable wider microgrid deployment and the eventu- Various projects are in the planning stage to set up an
al integration of microgrids with the main grid. Because aggregated 300 MW of solar PV projects (both off-grid and
most microgrids in existence or being planned are small, grid-connected) by defense establishments in the country to
isolated systems, off-grid systems, and isolated microgrids promote sustainable growth and a boost to indigenously
are synonymous in the Indian context. manufactured equipment. A major component of power in
rural India is used to pump water to agricultural fields, and
Boost to Solar PV Off-Grid Systems this power is heavily subsidized. To promote solar energy
As part of the National Solar Mission, India’s Ministry of use in the agriculture sector and subsequently reduce the
New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued a draft policy load on the grid and eliminate subsidy, ­several programs for
solar pumps for irrigation and drinking water are being pro-
moted by the government. From 2014 to 2015, a total of
Table 1. The financial outlay by the 28,778-kWp capacity solar pump projects were sanctioned
government for the financial year 2015–2016. and implemented by various state agencies. All of the gov-
Schemewise Outlay ernment projects in the country are monitored by state-des-
Subscheme/Program (in Crores) ignated agencies [e.g., West Bengal Renewable Energy
Development Agency (WBREDA) for the state of West Ben-
Off-grid program
gal]. The operating guidelines for the implementation, mini-
•  Solar applications 3,400 mum requirements/standards, and regular updates with
•  Grid interactive rooftop 600 information on products of empaneled component manu-
and small systems facturers on various programs is made available to the pub-
•  Solar thermal systems 600 lic on the MNRE website. The financial outlay for various
­subschemes by the government under the 12th plan (2012–
Total 4,600
2017) is shown in Table 1.
Rural energy applications The microgrid sector has attracted entrepreneurs to
•  Solar cookers 130 work in rural parts of the country and set up isolated power
systems (microgrids). To attract such energy-saving compa-
Total 4,730 (~US$70 million)
nies to set up microgrids in build, own, operate, and

48 I E E E E l e c t ri f i c a t i on M a gaz ine / j un e 2017

transfer (BOOT) mode, the new policy proposes including Lakshadweep, Andaman, Nicobar Islands, and North East
them as rural energy service providers (RESPs) by extending states, will be prioritized during the allocation of projects.
necessary support to accelerate microgrid deployment in
rural areas. As per the draft policy, the proposed mini- and Technology Options and Consumer
microgrids will distribute the electricity produced using Profile for Off-Grid Systems
renewable energy. While the microgrids will have the capa- Remote villages in the country are typically deprived of
bility to produce less than 10 kW of power, the minigrids energy resources like electricity for lighting and liquid
will be designed to generate 10 kW of power or more using petroleum gas or kerosene for cooking purposes, and this
renewable energy. The policy offers flexibility for the grids has a significant impact on their economic status. These
to use a single renewable energy source or to work as a villages are usually small in size and are composed of
hybrid system connected to a mix of renewable energy groups of hamlets (known locally as wadi, pada, or basti).
sources, such as solar-biomass, solar-hydro, solar-wind, and The demand for electricity is mainly for lighting purposes,
others. The policy discourages the use of conventional fuels but the requirement may increase to cater to other local
such as kerosene and diesel, even for backup purposes. The economic activities (predominantly agriculture based)
grids, which are normally expected to work in isolation depending upon the community, such as flour mills,
from the distributed companies, will use a public distribu- grinding of spices, briquetting, ice making, oil expelling,
tion network to distribute the generated power. The mini- buttermilk churning, and so on. Compared to urban Indi-
and microgrids that produce more power will be an consumers, who typically use high power-consuming
interconnected and linked to a main grid to transfer the devices like washing machines, air conditioners,
extra power generated. The following are the voltage and and water pumps, rural household loads are simple lights
power levels for the microgrids mentioned in the policy: (15–45 W for compact fluorescent lamps or 60–120 W
xx dc microgrids: for  incandescent lamps), fans (40–80 W), mobile chargers
■■ 24-Vdc systems up to 1 kWp capacity (10–60 W), and more. The commercial loads in rural areas
■■ 72-Vdc systems for more than 1 kWp and up to may range from lighting (20–120 W) to a few kW (1–3.5 kW
10 kWp capacity. for water pumping, 2–10 kW for refrigeration, and so on).
xx ac microgrids: The typical load and energy profiles for rural consumers
■■ 220-V single-phase systems up to 10 kWp capacity in the domestic and commercial segments are shown
■■ 440-V three-phase systems for capacities beyond in Table 3.
10 kWp.
To keep track of the deployment of off-grid systems in
the nation, the mini- and microgrid projects have been
categorized based on the installed capacity as shown Table 2. The classification of off-grid projects.
in Table 2. Size (kW) Category
The policy also encourages the formation of clusters to
<10 A
interconnect neighboring microgrids, which would
improve operational efficiency and reduce operating costs. 10–100 B
The RESPs serving inhabitants living in underserved and 100–250 C
unserved locations, such as special-category states (Him-
>250 D
achal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand),

Table 3. The typical load requirements in rural areas.

Monthly Energy
­Requirement/ Number of Total Village Demand
Category Household Load Period of Use Household ­Consumers (kWh)
Domestic Segment
Lighting 20–40 W 4.5–6 h 3–7.5 kWh 100–500 300–3,750
Others 50–150 W 3–4 h 4.5–18 kWh 100–500 450–9,000
Typical total domestic requirement 750–12,750
Commercial Segment
Lighting 25–100 W 4.5–8 h 3.5–24 kWh 2–10 7–240
Others 100–3.5 kW 4.5–8 h 13.5–840 kWh 1–4 13–3,350
Typical total commercial requirement 20–3,600

IEEE Electrific ation Magazine / j u n e 201 7 49

 To cater to the lighting require-
Remote villages prices, vendor/consumer-friendly tax
ments alone, a solar or hybrid project policies, and discounts on customs
should typically be 1–10 kWp. While in the country are and excise duties will give a boost to
­single-phase systems would be suffi- off-grid solar business India. In ana-
cient for lighting loads for ac sys- typically deprived lyzing the feasibility of an off-grid
tems, migrating to a three-phase of energy resources project implementation, a reliable
system may be ­necessary eventually estimation of the electricity demand
for larger commercial loads. For like electricity for and willingness to pay needs to be
domestic lighting purposes, the made. Notably, the demand side plays
monthly kerosene consumption is lighting and liquid a critical role in microgrid design.
generally in the range of 5–10 L (aver- petroleum gas or Thus, an integrated approach consid-
age of about 5 L/kWh); the average ering the energy requirement, cost of
price of kerosene is approximately kerosene for cooking electricity, scalability, and feasibility
12–15/L and varies slightly in differ- analysis would be required.
ent states depending on the taxes.
purposes. The MNRE policy describes the
Hence, the willingness to pay for cost structure of the minigrid projects
domestic lighting requirements lies to consist of two components: fixed
in the range of 30–120/month. In the commercial seg- and variable costs. The policy strives to achieve a major
ment, the willingness to pay would be around 10– improvement in risk perception associated with projects
15/kWh. If appropriate technology is chosen, the cost of on renewable energy. Because rural communities are very
electricity generation would be cheaper than the current price-sensitive, the policy mentions that each project
range, which makes a strong business case for off-grid needs to be designed carefully, with affordability of the
power ­generation. service as a main focus. Aligning demand with supply
Figure 1 depicts a typical isolated microgrid layout in and setting tariffs for the sale of electricity are possible
rural applications. The energy source is interfaced to the strategies to approach the challenge. The policy also com-
household loads through power-electronic converters pares the merits and demerits of the power- and energy-
and filters and associated switchgear. The dominant based tariff structures and mentions that these can be
storage used in the country is lead acid batteries. In further designed on the basis of the types of consumers,
India, the primary energy sources include micro/mini- the level of consumption, the time of the day, and surplus
hydro, biomass, and solar PV, while wind and natural gas energy availability. Thus, the much needed policy support
are growing. Hybrid systems such as diesel-biomass and has finally been provided.
diesel-wind are also present. The types of sources used Renewable energy services and products in India are
in the various field projects are given in Table 4. The expected to be a strong market because the demand for
dominant source in these projects is solar PV, as this is energy provision will continue to grow, the ability of rural
quite abundant and available throughout the year in households to pay for products will improve with the eco-
most areas of the country. nomic growth, and the awareness and realization of the
importance of the services will continue to increase.
The Business Case Decentralized renewable energy enterprises and solar
The technical and economic feasibility for meeting the home systems are capable of catering to the changing
rural electricity demands via microgrids still needs to be needs of the diverse set of consumers in the country. This
established concretely. Recent drops in solar module is the right time for investors to become more engaged

Filters Distribution
Energy Power
and
Source Electronics
Switchgear

Limiter Limiter Limiter

...
Storage Household Household Household

Figure 1. The structure of a typical isolated microgrid layout.

50 I E E E E l e c t ri f i c a t i on M a gaz ine / j un e 2017

and for companies to contribute their If appropriate Microgrids in Dharnai
resources, manpower, and expertise Village in Bihar
in the renewable energy business. technology is The rural electrification microgrid proj-
Investors and private-sector players ect is based in Dharnai village in the
have an increasingly important role
chosen, the cost state of Bihar, India. This part of the
to play in accelerating the growth of of electricity country is usually dry and hot. Dharnai
the sector. village is not connected to the main
generation would electricity grid. The neighboring villag-
Off-grid Deployments es have unreliable grid power and poor
Most of the off-grid deployments that
be cheaper than the quality. Electricity from the state utility
are currently in operation are concen- current range, which costs about 3/kWh. ­However, the vil-
trated in the northern and eastern lagers are paying 12–14/kWh of elec-
parts of the country. Solar plants, makes a strong tricity consumed from the microgrids.
as seen in Figure 2, are scattered The microgrid consist of solar PV sys-
throughout the country, and the
business case for tems that supply electricity to
northeastern part of the country has off-grid power households in Dharnai village on a
a large concentration of mini- and sustainable yet affordable basis. The
microhydro plants. Other sources, generation. project currently uses roughly 280 solar
such as wind, biomass, and diesel, are panels to generate more than 100 kWp
few and scattered. It is interesting to of electricity to power more than 400
note that several microplants, the majority of them solar- households. A hybrid system (consisting of solar, biomass,
based, have been set up by defense agencies in the upper and wind energy) has been planned for the future. The
reaches of the Himalayas, where grid penetration is developer (private) offers two packages to the consumers:
almost i­mpossible. The details of some projects have been 1) The basic package includes a charging point and one
summarized in Table 5. light connection: a total of 18 W per household.

Table 4. Indian microgrid projects—types of sources.

Projects/Developer Minihydro Solar PV Biomass Wind
Sidrapong hydel power station ✓
Sagar Island microgrid ✓ ✓ ✓
Dharnai solar city ✓
Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) ✓
Decentralized Energy Systems of India (DESI) Power ✓
Husk Power Systems (HPS) microgrids ✓
Orissa Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) ✓
West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency
(WBREDA) ✓ ✓ ✓
Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development ✓
Agency (UPNEDA)
Mera Gao Power (MGP) ✓
Sikkim Renewable Energy Development Agency (SREDA) ✓ ✓
Gram Oorja, Naturetech infra, and Minda Nexgen tech projects ✓
Alamprabhu Pathar: Maharashtra Energy Development Agency ✓ ✓
(MEDA)
Solar electricity company (SELCO) foundation microgrids ✓
Amrita self-reliant villages ✓ ✓
Gosaba Island project ✓
Biomass energy for rural India projects ✓

IEEE Electrific ation Magazine / j u n e 201 7 51

 2) The other package includes a The dominant source was used to power the island in the
mobile charging point and three evening for a few hours. Since, over
lighting points, with a total of in these projects is time, the diesel units resulted in con-
30 W. Residents opting for televi- siderable pollution and were found to
sion or fan connections would
solar PV, as this is require regular maintenance, in 1996
use this package. quite abundant and MNRE identified the area for renew-
The microgrid also includes ten able energy projects and installed a
solar-powered water pumps and 60 available throughout 26-kW PV-based microgrid. The proj-
solar street lights. The financially ect was jointly funded by the Indo-
sustainable model of this project
the year in most Canadian Environmental Facility,
may be replicated by the government areas of the country. MNRE, and WBREDA. The system pro-
for electrification. vides electricity for the residential
consumers for about six hours every
Microgrids in Sagar Islands evening. The total consumption per
in the Sundarbans household is around 30 kWh/month. The 11 solar stations
The Sunderbans in the western part of India consists of can each produce approximately 25–100 kW; hence, around
inaccessible marshlands with dense vegetation. Several 800 kW of power is generated and then distributed via
solar-wind-biogas–based systems have been installed in this 2–3 km long power lines to roughly 1,400 households and
remote area to meet the energy needs of consumers resid- commercial establishments. The generation cost is about
ing in the area. The system is an example of a collection of 10/kWh, but the energy is sold for 7: the government bears
various hybrid distributed generation resources. The provi- the difference. The community is actively involved through
sion of electricity is also linked with the water supply to the the local cooperative members, who take responsibility for
community. Until 1996, diesel generation of 300-kW capacity addressing grievances, tariff collection, and basic opera-
tions and maintenance.

Rice-Husk Power-Based
Microgrids in Bihar
Power generation from rice husks is
an appropriate technology option in
areas where rice is widely grown.
Rice husks are used as a fuel in bio-
mass gasifiers, to electrify villages in
these areas (about 48 villages cover-
ing 32,000 households). The devel-
oper, with support from the villages,
built a biomass gasifier unit that
was later adapted to their require-
ments. Electric supply is available
for roughly 6 h/day at a charge of
100/month for each 30 W of power
supplied. The cost per unit works
out to be 18. Currently there are
about 82 systems, and they predom-
inantly fall under three categories:
build-maintain (BM), build, own, and
maintain (BOM), and build, own,
operate, and maintain (BOOM). The
Legend systems can be owned by individu-
Wind als or communities. There is a pro-
Micro/Minihydro posal to integrate prepaid metering
Solar PV
Biomass into these systems, which would
Diesel then enable hourly billing.

OREDA Projects in Orissa

Orissa is a state that is largely
Figure 2. A map depicting the various microgrid field projects in India. poor and home to a variety of tribal

52 I E E E E l e c t ri f i c a t i on M a gaz ine / j un e 2017

 Table 5. Indian microgrid project details.
Project/Developer Location Capacity Number of Villages Electricity Price
Dharnai solar city Dharnai, Bihar 100 kW One 12–14/kWh
(350 households)
Sagar Island microgrid Sagar Island, 26 kW One 7/kWh
Sundarbans (1,400 ­households)
Palm Meadows project (urban) Hyderabad 30 kW 335 households
CREDA Chhattisgarh 500 PV Roughly six Fixed: 300 + five
State ­systems (30,000 ­households) (monthly)
1–2/kWh
DESI Power Bihar (4) 260-kW PV Roughly four 5–12/kWh
Madhya Pradesh (1) systems (450 households)
HPS microgrids Bihar 82 systems ~48 Connection:
(32 kW each) (3,200 ­households) 100–200,
70/month per
connection (15 W)
OREDA Orissa 2–4.5 kW ~27 No connection fee,
each 10–30/month
WBREDA West Bengal 25–500 kW ~22 6–30/kWh
each (50 households)
UPNEDA Uttar Pradesh 1.2-kWp 27 districts Fixed: 50/month +
systems (households + energy charges
commercial)
MGP Uttar Pradesh 240-Wp Roughly eight Fixed: 25/week +
systems (250 households) energy charges
SREDA Sikkim 10–25-kW — -
systems
Gram Oorja projects Maharashtra, 5–30-kWp (30–40 households) 20/kWh
­Karnataka systems
Alamprabhu Pathar : MEDA Maharashtra 12,000 kW 50 households + 40 -
commercial + agricul-
tural consumers
SELCO foundation microgrids Karnataka 1–14-kWp Roughly five -
systems
Amrita self-reliant villages Kerala 8 kW One -
minihydro (30–40 households)
Biomass energy for rural India project Karnataka 500 kW Roughly three -
(80 households)

populations who live in the vast forest lands. The Orissa day. Battery backup provides for all-night street lighting.
Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) has At 10–30/month (US$0.18–0.55) and without a connection
installed electricity in approximately 1,100 villages in fee for a standard supply, the tariffs of these systems are
Orissa, with microgrids powering 63 villages while indi- among the lowest in the country. These ­projects are
vidual solar home systems are used to supply electricity owned by the state agency.
to the remaining villages. Some microgrids are more than
a decade old. OREDA’s first microgrid was installed in the Sikkim Renewable Energy
Nuapada district, with funding initially provided by the Development Agency Projects
United Nations Development Programme. The remaining Sikkim, a northeastern state in India, has abundant hydro
microgrids were developed with MNRE (90%) and OREDA resources. The Sikkim Renewable Energy Development
(10%) funds. The OREDA microgrids usually consist of Agency (SREDA) has implemented many sustainable
small (2–4.5 kW) solar PV systems, sized to provide phone microhydro projects as community-based systems. Pro-
charging and two lights for each household for 3–4 hours/ moting the development of hydro energy has been the

IEEE Electrific ation Magazine / j u n e 201 7 53

 primary focus in the state. The micro- This is the right month for a household with two light
hydro projects are maintained and bulbs and a cell phone. The electricity
fully owned by the local community. time for investors consumption in the village can be
The ownership and maintenance is monitored and managed wirelessly.
conferred upon the village electricity
to become more This microgrid can be integrated to
committee, which is usually formed engaged and for the main grid when a grid exten-
before the design and installation of sion happens.
the project, upon project completion. companies to
SREDA only provides technical sup- The Biomass Energy for
port when required. The early systems
contribute their a Rural India Project
included a 10-kW Karek microhydro resources, A 500-kW biomass power plant has
project in south Sikkim, which had a been established near Kabbigere vil-
hydraulic head of about 9 m and a dis- manpower, and lage in Thovinakere gram panchayat
charge of 0.20 m3/s. The plant uses a in the state of Karnataka. This is one
single-unit turbine to generate 10 kW
expertise in the of the many projects implemented to
of power at a three-phase, 415-V, renewable energy provide energy for rural India using
50-Hz supply. The plant powers the decentralized bioenergy technology.
lighting needs of a shrine, approxi- business. This project is meant to supply power
mately 92 households, and a local pri- to five neighboring villages. It should
mary school. Other microhydro plants, cater to domestic and commercial irri-
such as a 20-kW capacity Ghor microhydro project in gation loads and public lighting. There are small industrial
North Sikkim, a 7-kW capacity Banjhakri microhydro sites like flour mills in these villages. The nearest grid is
­project, and a 25-kW capacity Biri Khola microhydro proj- available at the Thovinakere 66/11-kV grid substation.
ect in West Sikkim have also been commissioned. The Locally available biomass is used to generate power at an
funding for the project has been through MNRE, and the affordable price. The pilot project has been found to
projects are owned by the state agency. improve the agricultural industries and to generate
employment, thus improving the livelihood of the peo-
A Solar-Smart Microgrid Project ple. Using local material, clean and reliable power gen-
A solar-powered smart microgrid in Khareda Lakshmipu- eration can be made available to rural households, a
ra, Rajasthan, was set up in March 2012 to supply rural solution that could be replicated throughout the country
households. This village has about 26 homes with elec- in a sustainable way.
tricity requirements for lighting, fans, and charging
mobile phones. There are also buttermilk-churning Research Needs
machines. A 40-kW microgrid is installed using solar PV Microgrids in India are characterized by the fact that they
as the main energy source, with battery backup for sup- are typically in nonurban, often remote areas. This makes
ply during the night. Electricity is supplied at 75–100 a it difficult to carry out monitoring, repair, and mainte-
nance work in case of failures. The situation would be mit-
igated by research in three important areas:
xx understanding the causes for degradation of PV
­modules
HIL Simulator
xx power-electronic interfaces with well-defined and
Non-Real-Time gradual failure modes
Simulation Model xx mechanisms to remotely monitor and test interfaces
and their controllers.
As the government favors solar PV-based off-grid/
Communication Hardware microgrid power sources, it is important to study and
understand the degradation of PV modules. The energy
...... yield from solar PV sources depends on the irradiation
and the local temperature, while the performance ratio
Interface Interface Interface depends on the site and technology adopted. These condi-
Hardware Hardware Hardware
tions vary widely throughout the country, which is classi-
...... fied as having five different climatic zones. This leads to
variation in the performance of the modules, depending
Controller 1 Controller 2 Controller N
on where they are installed. Therefore, causes for the deg-
radation require in-depth analysis to provide solutions for
Figure 3. The HIL testing of distributed controllers. its minimization.

54 I E E E E l e c t ri f i c a t i on M a gaz ine / j un e 2017

 Power-electronic interfaces with well-defined failure ­ nergy-based mini/microgrids. [Online]. Available: http://
e
modes should be able to operate with degraded specifica- mnre.gov.in/file-manager/UserFiles/draft-national-Mini_
Micro-Grid-­Policy.pdf
tions for extended periods of time, until maintenance and
Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc. (2014, Oct.).
repairs can be effected. Ideally, these should be modular, Assessing the business case for rural microgrids in India: A
and it should be possible to train local people in their reg- case study approach. Arlington, TX. [Online]. Available: http://
ular maintenance, basic repairs, and module swapping. www.schatzlab.org/docs/E3Team_AzureMicrogridProject_
This would ensure that the failure of a part of the energy- FinalReport_October_2014.pdf
The Climate Group and Goldman Sachs. (2015, Feb.). The
conversion system does not result in the failure of the
business case study for off-grid energy in India. New Delhi,
entire system. India. [Online]. Available: http://www.goldmansachs.com/citi-
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tronic interfaces and controllers can benefit from research ronmental-markets/cem-partners/gs-report.pdf
in distributed hardware-in-loop (HIL) testing. Figure 3 D. Schnitzer, D. S. Lounsbury, J. P. Carvallo, R. Deshmukh,
J.  Apt, and D. M. Kammen. (2014, Jan.). Microgrids for rural
shows a scenario of HIL testing of distributed controllers.
electrification: A critical review of best practices based on
In this scenario, the HIL simulator is located at a central seven case studies. United Nations Foundation. [Online]. Avail-
location and has a detailed model of the entire microgrid. able: https://rael.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/
The distributed controllers connect to the central simula- MicrogridsReportEDS.pdf
tor via communication links. The simulation progresses Prayas Energy Group. (2014, Aug.). A map of distributed
renewable energy (DRE) micro-grids in India. [Online].
one step at a time by the alternate freezing and running of
­Available: http://www.prayaspune.org/peg/publications/
the controllers and the simulator. A critical issue in this item/275.html
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between the HIL simulator and the distributed controllers. tralised renewable energy (DRE) microgrids in India: A review
Scenarios such as this would permit the operation and of recent literature. Prayas Energy Group, Pune, India.
[Online]. Available: http://www.prayaspune.org/peg/­
testing of controllers in interconnected microgrids.
publications/item/187.html
M. Schäfer, N. Kebir, and K. Neumann, “Research needs for
Conclusions meeting the challenge of decentralized energy supply in
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people in urban areas, the issue is one of reliable, high- integration of renewable energy in India. Bangalore, India.
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varied customer priorities and requirements, the concept Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited. [Online].
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achieving equitable, sustainable, and rapid economic Moilanen, C. Onda, N. Ratledge, S. Speirs, and J. Wong. (2014,
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growth. A very important point in the context of India and
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the developing nations is that of economics. The cost of microgrid projects. Woodrow Wilson School for Public and
electricity from a microgrid must become comparable if International Affairs. Princeton Univ., NJ. [Online]. Available:
not cheaper than the cost of electricity from the main grid. https://wws.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/content/591f%20
Removing incentives such as the subsidies offered to the Rural%20Energy%20Alternatives%20in%20India.pdf
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the use of smart meters that reduce theft, and expanding Biographies
the scale of microgrids may help make the microgrid busi- Vijay A. Subramony (vijay_as@iitb.ac.in) is with the
ness more sustainable. A firm commitment to proper Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian
implementation at the grassroots level is a must for Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India.
microgrids to become successful. Suryanarayana Doolla (suryad@iitb.ac.in) is with the
Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian
For Further Reading Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India.
V. S. K. Murthy Balijepalli, S. A. Khaparde, and C. V. Dobariya, Mukul Chandorkar (mukul@ee.iitb.ac.in) is with the
“Deployment of microgrids in India,” in Proc. IEEE Power &
Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of
Energy Society General Meeting, 2010, pp. 1–7.
Government of India, Ministry of New and Renewable Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India.
Energy. (2016, June). Draft national policy on renewable 

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