ITT said field trials will be rolled out between now and October in several villages of around 200 households and commercial loads as well as 10-12 microbusinesses.
The mini-grids will feature metering and load management systems along with a revenue management system and remote monitoring and control. ITT said it will also test new energy storage solutions and efficient appliances.
The project aims to address issues with mini-grid construction, where components are sourced from multiple vendors and may not play well with others, increasing system costs and reducing performance.
The ‘utility in a box’ aims to reduce overall system costs as well as improving efficiency and ease of installation.
In reference to India’s target of installing 10,000 mini-grids within five years, ITT said it hopes to show that the systems can be scaled on a sustainable basis.
India this month is to see the launch of a prototype mini-grid system being termed a ‘utility in a box’.
The solar photovoltaic (PV) system was designed by the US- and Mumbai-based Institute for Transformative Technologies (ITT) and is to be tested by private-sector Indian energy services companies TARA Urja, Mlinda and OMC Power.
