Title: Investigation of net metering as a tool for increasing electricity access in Malawi

Authors: Sylvester William Chisale; Lackson Chisanu; Paul Stone Brown Macheso; Sylvester Richard Chikabvumbwa; Davis Sibale

Addresses: Malawi University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 5196, Limbe, Malawi ' The Polytechnic, University of Malawi, Private Bag 303, Chichiri, Blantyre 3, Malawi ' Department of Physics and Electronics, University of Malawi, P.O. Box 280, Zomba, Malawi ' The Polytechnic, University of Malawi, Private Bag 303, Chichiri, Blantyre 3, Malawi ' Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR-NRC Campus), P.O. Box 143, Lilongwe, Malawi

Abstract: Globally increasing energy demand has had a significant impact on development. In Malawi, the net metering policy, which is part of the framework for independent power producers, has the potential to improve energy access. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the use of net metering policy as a means of improving reliability and access to electricity. The HOMER software was used to size solar PV systems while accounting for net metering at the household level. Reliability indicators such as forced outage rate (FOR), loss of load probability (LOLP), loss of load expectation (LOLE), and expected load loss (ELL) were calculated to be 6.746 × 10^-12, 2.462 × 10^-9 days/year and 0.000504756 Watts, respectively. The findings indicate that the designed system is more reliable and economically viable than a system without net metre electricity. Thus, the Malawi Government should consider net metering to encourage more homes to sell excess energy to the grid.

Keywords: net metering; solar PV; grid; excess energy; policy; reliability; Malawi.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRET.2022.120334

International Journal of Renewable Energy Technology, 2022 Vol.13 No.1, pp.66 - 83

Received: 11 Mar 2021
Accepted: 01 Jul 2021
Published online: 14 Jan 2022 *