Innovative renewable generation on a budget

Abstract

Adding augmenters to small-scale wind, solar, and hydrokinetic generators can be a powerful, cost-saving strategy for distributed generation applications. In the last decade, renewed commercial interest in augmentation technologies has resulted in their successful deployment worldwide. This paper proposes that innovative electric generators should be implemented to take advantage of the diverse resources available in the Madan community of Jiwaka Province, Papua New Guinea. Portability, low production costs, ease of on-site assembly, and recycling of available materials are emphasized as the key design parameters in construction of the suggested augmented generators. The working principles and economics of the technologies are discussed along with suggestions for overcoming cultural barriers to electrification in the tradition-bound society of rural Papua New Guinea.