EnerSHelF’s Annual Meeting

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Report by Jonas Bauhof

With the continuous travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the EnerSHelF project team was unable to meet physically during the past months. Accordingly, this year’s annual meeting of all work packages (WPs) took place online. With researchers and project partners from both Ghana and Germany, the meeting was packed with presentations and thriving discussions on recent progress being made across the individual work packages.

The results are as diverse as are the different disciplines involved. Within WP1, a comprehensive literature review of the political economy in Ghana considering the nexus of renewable energy and health facilities is about to be completed. Recently, WP2 managed to instal measurement equipment and PV systems at one pilot site. In WP3, the different sub-WPs developed load models and an installation tutorial for the measurement devices that was used by local partners. Furthermore, they collected blackout and load data from Ghanaian hospitals and set together high-resolution energy meteorological forecasts for the project sites. These forecasts are backed with data collected by newly installed automatic weather stations at all three field sites. Another milestone was the development of an assistance tool for the process of planning and implementing micro grid systems for Ghanaian hospitals as well as the identification of the geographical distribution of energy production, consumption, and infrastructure through GIS data analysis.

A key objective of the meeting was the knowledge exchange among all WPs to find and create synergies and to discuss preliminary results. The fruitful debates proved the increment value of these cross-disciplinary exchange as the different perspectives lead to a holistic project approach. To foster this exchange, individual interviews with researchers and partners were conducted by one of the scholars in WP4 to pinpoint challenges regarding interdisciplinary work but also the advantages it encompasses. On the second day of the meeting, these perspectives have been put into practice by multiple cross-WPs sessions. In the upcoming year, the EnerSHelF team aims to deepen the interdisciplinary exchange through monthly seminars.  

Despite the challenges regarding the installation of equipment, collecting data, and conducting interviews in Ghana, the range of steps undertaken in the previous months allows for a promising outlook for the upcoming year 2021.

The multifaceted contribution of Ghanaian project partners

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Interview with Dr. Emmanuel Ramde from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. He explains the many areas he is involved in for the EnerSHelF project

As an associated partner to the EnerSHelF project, the Brew-Hammond Energy Centre (TBHEC) at KNUST is involved in WP3.1, which aims to provide a power demand model for Ghanaian hospitals. What is your specific role within this work package?

My specific role within this work package is manifold and diverse. First of all, I use my knowledge and understanding of the energy landscape in Ghana to get the right input parameters for the expected outputs of the developed model. Furthermore, I liaise with the utilities to get data for some selected hospitals. That also included locating a health facility in Kumasi which is now a part of the EnerSHelF project as a pilot site. During this process, I initiated a collaboration agreement with the management of the facility and coordinated the recent installation of the weather station and of the load measurement devices.

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The market potential of photovoltaic in Ghana: Analysing institutional structures

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Interview with Ana Maria Perez Arredondo from Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences. She explains how and why she examines institutional structures in Ghana and points out linkages of EnerSHelF to her doctoral thesis on One Health.

You recently joined work package 1 of the EnerSHelF project which is examining the political economy structure of Ghana. Can you explain your role within this work package?

Sure. I will be looking at how the dissemination of technology, particularly photovoltaic (PV), is happening in Ghana. In particular, I will interview managers of health facilities to evaluate the challenges they have in relation to energy supply and their impressions towards renewable and non-centralized energy sources. The goal is to evaluate the market potential for PV.

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Automatic Weather Stations installed at the pilot sites in Ghana

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A team of German and Ghanaian researchers and technicians installed the equipment to collect meteorological data at the health facilties in Kumasi, Akwatia, and Kologo for the EnerSHelF project.

Report by Windmanagda Sawadogo, Samuel Guug, and Edmond Borteye

At the end of September, a team from University of Augsburg (UniA) and West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) met in Ghana to install Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) for the collection of meteorological data at the three pilot sites of the EnerSHelF project. Within the project, both partners collaborate in work package (WP) 3.2 under the lead of UniA to collect and evaluate in situ climate data (You can read interviews with both partners here and here). The aim of the WP is to forecast the key meteorological variables for solar power generation and consumption at the field sites. Thereby, WASCAL acts as an interface between the EnerSHelF project teams in Germany and local stakeholders, for instance, the Ghana Meteorological Agency. Furthermore, they are responsible to provide technical support in collecting and processing observational data from the local observatory networks. The installation of the AWS at the three field sites spread over a period of 14 days and the field trip’s schedule included a close engagement with local authorities, securing materials and civil works, as well as mounting of sensors and testing the installed equipment.

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Interdisciplinary Exchange in the EnerSHelF project

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Interview with Sarah Rabe from Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences. She talks about her role in the project as a linkage between the different disciplines, ensuring an active exchange among the work packages throughout the research process.

Interdisciplinarity is at the core of the EnerSHelF project as different academic disciplines and industrial partners are involved. What is the purpose of this holistic approach?

The holistic approach arises almost automatically out of the project’s topic. The technological transition towards renewable energy – in this case solar energy through photovoltaics (PV) – can only work if the product is of high quality and adapted to the specific region. But even well-engineered technology is pointless if it is not usable for or accepted by the people who are supposed to adapt it. Therefore, one needs different disciplines like engineering, meteorology, and socio-economy to tackle a holistic problem like the energy self-sufficiency of health facilities.

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How Photovoltaic Solar Systems are Modeled

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Interview with Samer Chaaraoui from Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Sankt Augustin, on the process of modeling photovoltaic systems. In cooperation with other members of the EnerSHelF project, he works on the mathematical representation of different effects and events that influence the operation of the system

When I searched for academic articles on solar photovoltaic modeling and simulation, I have seen a lot of equations and mathematical formulas. Can you explain in a more accessible way what modeling of photovoltaic systems encompasses?

By modeling photovoltaic (PV) systems, we try to find a mathematical representation of effects and events happening inside a PV system. With this representation, we can simulate processes, such as the conversion of solar radiation to electrical power, in order to estimate solar yields – for instance for economic and ecological business case analyses.

Since the full representation of the real world is not viable, we try to find mathematical representations which are simple enough to be calculated quickly and are complex enough to give an acceptable result. Therefore, it is especially important to validate modeling results with real world measurements, to estimate the performance of the model.

You will find many approaches and equations, trying to represent PV systems, which range from simple physical equations to more complex methods. Each of these approaches result from different demands towards the use case, usability, and accuracy of the model.

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Whom to ask? How quantitative and qualitative data is collected in Ghana

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Interview with Dr. Kennedy Alatinga of the University for Development Studies on his involvement in the project as an associated partner. He explains his role in the quantitative and qualitative data collection in Ghana

You are an associated partner to the EnerSHelF project and involved in three work packages. Can you tell us about your role within these distinct packages?

I am the Country Project Manager of EnerSHelF in charge of the socio-economic component of the project in Ghana. In my position, I am involved in developing survey instruments for data collection and analysis. Another major task is to ensure that the project team gets ethical clearance from the Ghana Health Service Ethical Review Committee for the project – which I already secured.

How do you implement your tasks and areas of responsibility?

I am leading the development of both qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments. With these we plan to assess the impact of the institutional framework – both in terms of prevailing technologies as well as socio-economic conditions – on the decision-making behaviour of market actors regarding PV solutions.

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A Glimpse Behind the Scenes of the EnerSHelF project

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Interview with Samantha Antonini from Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences on her tasks within the EnerSHelF project. She unravels her role as a linkage between project partners, researchers, and donors and the affiliated administrative challenges.

Besides the academic research and technological challenges surrounding EnerSHelF, its administration is central for the smooth progression of the project. Can you explain your role within the project in this regard?

I am responsible for facilitating collaboration across multidisciplinary work packages and reporting the project status to our project leaders and donors. In doing so, my work entails a diverse field of activities: I monitor the progress of research activities, generate the necessary documentation, organize regular team meetings, and assist staff and scientists with creating protocols, reports and many more. I also provide support for operational, procurement and legal aspects.

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The Ongoing Process of Collecting Meteorological Data

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Interview with Seyni Salack and Samuel Guug from WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) on how they collect meteorological data for the EnerSHelF project at the field sites in Ghana.

WASCAL is involved in WP 3.2, which aims to forecast the key meteorological variables for solar power generation and consumption at the field sites. How does WASCAL collaborate with the University of Augsburg within the work package?

In collaboration with the University of Augsburg (UniA), WASCAL provides technical support in collecting, processing, and analyzing observational data from the local observatory networks and pilot sites. It also acts as an interface between the EnerSHelF project teams in Germany and local stakeholders, for instance the Ghana Meteorological Agency. With this, we aim to foster synergies among the actors to achieve a seamless workflow.

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How Internal and External Factors Influence PV Solar Solutions

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Interview with Prof. Stefanie Meilinger from Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences. She explains the overall aim of work package 3 and how different data is used to optimize the operation of PV Solar solutions at health facilities in Ghana.

Work package 3 (WP 3) works on examining ways for the country- and sector specified optimization of PV solutions. What is the overall aim of this work package?

Briefly speaking, WP 3 and its sub work packages look at different factors that are influencing the operation of solar PV hybrid systems at the three selected health facilities. There are two strings of internal and external factors, which must be considered: The available solar resources and the demand for electricity. Our aim is to improve both data bases to enhance and optimize the PV solutions.

The data on solar resources depend on climatic factors and on weather conditions. This information is collected by looking at historical climate data and local measurements performed in Ghana by WP 3.2. The collected data is critical to forecast how much energy can be produced at what time. The measurements include both local solar radiation, temperatures, and other meteorological variables.

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