The aspiration of delivering electricity to remote communities through ordinary power grid infrastructure is practically and economically challenging. Today, with technological advancements, it is possible to bring the supply of electricity to the most remote of locations through decentralized off-grid systems.

This presentation focuses on two case studies, using two different approaches, to showcase the benefits (or and drawbacks) of a centralized vs decentralized system. The centralized system consists of a combined PV array plus a central inverter and energy storage. The decentralized system consists of individual homes with their own PV, inverter, and energy storage. Pestech is currently in the mist of deploying the final piece of the puzzle, or Phase 2, for this project: bringing in Hydrogen as a fuel (diesel) replacement, thereby sticking to the very definition of the term clean and sustainable energy. This would be first in the Malaysia, if not the region.

The session also will discuss the Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (SARES). This is still currently a work in progress as Pestech is engaged with the state, Sarawak's sole electric utility, to study the feasibility of Supercapacitors + Hydrogen vs. conventional off-grid battery solutions. Similar to the previous case study, this is focused solely on a centralized system. The collaborative study and R&D is on each component and also on the overall model/solution. The state of Sarawak is densely covered with rough terrain and heavy forest, and most villages are only accessible via small boats. Hence modular containerized containers are parts and pieces of the study as well.

Speaker: