A user's expectations regarding the design of photovoltaic power plants for rural telecom systems in developing countries

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has funded a number of telecommunication systems in developing countries, making extensive use of photovoltaic power plants. Although very impressed with the advantages of such power plants, their performance has not fully met expectations. As a result, more attention is being paid to system design. Unfortunately this has proven to be a difficult task because of the lack of specific solar insolation data, the conflicting claims and varying data provided by the suppliers, a lack of standards, and the difficulty of understanding different computer-aided designs submitted by the various suppliers. The authors discuss these concerns and identify where more data is needed. >