Energy efficiency is the leitmotif of the Togolese start-up KYA-Energy Group, which has developed professional software for sizing and simulating solar photovoltaic systems. It is based on the KEG method (KYA-Energy Group).
“This software is the result of five years of research. We have concretely noticed three shortcomings in the classic sizing system. First, the energy balance. There is no classification based on how the energy is used. Second, in photovoltaic systems, there are charge controllers. MPPT and PWM type, they do not behave in the same way, however, the classic method considers them in the same way.
The classic method does not effectively take into account the number of days of battery life. In our country, the reality is quite different. These elements have confirmed us in the analyzes that we are in the process of doing and therefore the whole has enabled us to implement, therefore to design a new method that we call “The KEG method” of dimensioning which is embedded in KYA SOLDESIGN the first African dimensioning software”explains Alain Tossa, the Technical Director of the Start-up.
The software was designed within the research and development unit of KYA-Energy Group. The sizing is carried out by taking into account the weather data, the consumption of the equipment, the type of equipment, the percentage of daytime consumption, and the characteristics of the equipment chosen. An evaluation of the behavior of each dimensioned system is possible thanks to the integrated simulation tool KEGSIM_PV, the simulator allows from the site weather data to predict the behavior of the dimensioned system.
KYA SOL DESIGN offers the possibility of sizing the battery protection elements, inverter and cable sections in order to avoid accidents on photovoltaic installations as much as possible.
A techno-economic optimization tool
During the tests, the Start-up researchers managed to understand how the systems worked. No need, for example, to store energy to supply equipment. Rather, the real need is short-term smoothing storage to regulate the supply of energy. No need for large batteries. This leads to a reduction in the costs of investing in solar.
“As an African it's embarrassing that there is an aberration in the way of doing these sizing. Errors that we have discovered, that we have worked on, that we have approached with solid scientific approaches since we teach it in major universities and schools. And so the only way to make it more accessible was through software. This means that a system, for example that we are going to finance to supply 10 villages, can supply 20 villages with the same cost today. " details Professor Kétowoglo Yao Azoumah, Managing Director of KYA-Energy Group.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the sun shines almost 340 days a year. A significant solar deposit estimated at more than 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Solar energy is on the rise on the continent.
By Africanews