SOLshare, the initiator of the world's first peer-to-peer energy exchange network for rural communities, in collaboration with Shakti Foundation, is set to break another glass ceiling in energy innovation.
Funded by the UK Government, SOLshare and Shakti Foundation will be interconnecting one of their P2P solar microgrids – a network of interconnected solar home systems, in a rural village in Bangladesh through a single point called the "Point of Common Coupling" (PCC), to feed the excess solar energy into the national grid.
The PCC (Point of Common Coupling) integrates Bangladesh's two major electrification efforts – grid extension and Solar Home System dissemination.The Rural Electrification Board (REB) grid is connected to one side of the PCC, while the local microgrid from the SHS is connected to the other side.
The microgrid is self-sustaining and this grid infrastructure will be used for energy balancing with the national grid, while reducing load shedding, and increasing service stability. Users of the Solar Home Systems (SHS) are able to sell electricity to the national grid to earn an additional income while paving the path to sustainability for our existing 6 million+ SHS.
This is the first step towards the formation of a smarter grid with the integration of existing distributed storage assets ultimately providing the means for the formation of a virtual power plant (VPP).
"Shakti Foundation is proud to collaborate with SOLshare in the action research to examine the feasibility of contributing power to the national grid from Solar Home Systems (SHS). We believe this will be a game-changer in climate change mitigation measures and will help realise the country's aspiration of generating 40% power from clean energy sources by 2041.", said Imran Ahmed, deputy executive director of Shakti foundation.