Solar Power in the Island Nation, Mauritius

Abstract

The challenges to integrating a greater share of renewable energy, more specifically solar energy into the power grid in tropical islands are that these islands have a complex microclimate, high humidity and high cloud coverage. Because of this, the power output from solar photovoltaic (SPV) plants is severely affected. In this manuscript, the results of a study carried out on the performance of a 15.2 MW solar photovoltaic (SPV) plant in the island nation Mauritius is presented. The net annual yield was 22 162 MWh and has avoided 22 162 metric t of CO2 emission into the atmosphere. An attempt is also made to develop a model to forecast the power that can be generated from the SPV plants at that location. The grid operator, the national Central Electricity Board (CEB) needs to know a priori, the energy mix for the subsequent few days so that the level of operation of fossil fuel fired thermal plants can be tuned accordingly to minimize the environment pollution of this pristine island.