CONCEPT PAPER ON ‘’SiC-INVERTER BASED PV SYSTEM FOR OFF GRID RURAL

ELECTRIFICATION IN ETHIOPIA’’

Statistics shows that more than 2.5 billion of the world's populations rely on wood and charcoal for cooking. Nearly half of
Africans (600 million people) did not have access to electricity in 2018.In addition, more than 70% of the populations, around
900 million people, lack access to clean cooking. The resulting household air pollution from traditional uses of biomass is
causing 500,000 premature deaths per year.

Ethiopia is a low-income country in Sub-Saharan Africa with more than a population of 110 million people. Rapid population
growth is estimated to add a further 30 million people by 2030. More than 80% of the population resides in rural areas. Power
generation for the electric grid in Ethiopia currently depends almost entirely on hydropower. Electricity is available for 41% of
the population, but only 17% of households are connected to the central grid, all in major towns and cities. About 99% of
households, 70% of industries and 94% of service enterprises use biomass as the primary source to meet their energy demands.
Currently, the main energy source used in rural areas of Ethiopia for cooking and heating is unprocessed biomass and fossil fuel
such as kerosene, paraffin and petrol/diesel. These energy sources generate large volume of indoor air pollution that increases the
risk of chronic diseases. Additionally, due to lack of access to electricity, the communities in the rural villages are not able to
benefit from social services such as clinics and schools sufficiently. Therefore, village electrification is a vital step for improving
the socio-economic conditions of rural areas and crucial for the country’s overall development.Though Ethiopia is endowed with
vast energy resources such as hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, coal and natural gas, the country has not yet been able to
develop, transform and utilize these resources for optimal economic development. Renewable energy resources are the current
international trend in rural electrification. Solar energy is the most practical and economical way of bringing power to poor and
remote communities in the long-term and Ethiopia is strategically located in a maximum sun shines hours zone. Among these, a
solar PV energy system is thought to be an ideal solution for rural electrification. Due to geographical location all place of
Ethiopia will harness much amount of solar energy. Solar irradiation of Ethiopia varies from 4.5 kWh/m 2 - 7.5 kWh/m2.

The demand for low carbon economy and limited fossil resources for energy generation drives the research on renewable energy
sources and the key technology for utilization of renewable energy sources using green advanced power electronics devices. The
emergence of wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices, third-generation semiconductor materials, promises to revolutionize
next-generation power electronics converters. The third-generation semiconductor materials, under rapid development and
commercialization include silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) devices, with SiC mainly targeting high voltage high
power (600V, kilowatts or above) applications, and GaN for low voltage low power (600V, kilowatts or below) applications. The
WBG devices have gradually shown superior characteristics compared to Si material. All of these characteristics are beneficial
for the efficiency, power density, specific power, and/or reliability of power electronics converters. The advancement of power
semiconductor devices has always been an impulsive force for power electronics system. Photovoltaic system needs efficient
converters and inverters for power conversion. Silicon carbide has superior material properties. The wide band gap of SiC
allows higher junction temperature thereby reducing heat sink size, cooling efforts, weight and cost of the converter. SiC PV
system is beneficial for energy efficient operation of power conversion and power management as well as in improving the power
density than Si-PV system.

From recent power electronic scientific papers, I have a great motivation to deal with some technical challenges of SiC PV
inverters, which includes: switching ringing, cross-talk, short-circuit withstand, gate driver, package, high capacity module, and
thermal interface material. But, I’m highly interested on the project that would focus on the material property problems, like in
compatibility in thermal expansion coefficient, that are related to packaging and thermal management component materials and
interface defects during SiC growth. Beside to these, I have also an interest on the general problems that are related to the future
PV inverters materials requirements on efficiency, power density, reliability, and cost. As we know, designing an innovative
inverter topologies and emerging WBG semiconductor based devices are enabling technologies for more efficient, reliable and
accessible photovoltaic based electricity generation. Implementing cost-effective renewable energy-based SiC inverter based PV
systems to supply electric loads is a best candidate solution for off-grid rural electrification in Ethiopia. So, I want to work on this
research thematic area that will be useful for all rural areas in Ethiopia and this may also provide insights for other rapidly
developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sincerely yours,

Alemayehu Solomon