An Overview of Energy Access Solutions for Rural Healthcare Facilities

Abstract

Quality in healthcare service is essential in giving rural dwellers a good standard of living. It has been established that many rural locations in Sub-Saharan Africa away from the grid connection have difficulty accessing electricity. The inaccessibility of reliable energy and essential medical equipment was the leading barrier to improved healthcare delivery in these rural locations. The deficiency of basic medical equipment to power essential services due to limited or unreliable electricity access has reduced rural healthcare workers’ care capabilities, resulting in higher mortality rates. This paper, therefore, reviews the existing energy solutions for rural healthcare facilities, thereby analysing different approaches and the geographical energy mix and ascertaining the effectiveness of various techniques and energy mix as solutions to effective healthcare delivery in healthcare centres. Hybrid Renewable Energy Sources (HRES) microsystems, like microgrids incorporated with solar panels and battery, is identified to ensure higher and more reliable energy access in rural healthcare centres. At the same time, the adoption of Demand Side Management (DSM) in the HRES deployment in countryside healthcare facilities is reported to decrease the initial cost of installation and improve efficiency. Lastly, in improving energy access, rural electrification planning is achieved through modelling tools related to energy access modelling.

Keywords

• energy access
• rural healthcare
• hybrid renewable energy sources
• demand side management