A reconnaissance survey was conducted during SeptembereNovember
2004 to develop preliminary concepts about the
study area. This helped in building relationship with the local
people (villagers), key informants and households to be surveyed,
and also to visualize the system. This is followed by informal
discussions with villagers in terms of government/private supports,
management practice and community participation. During the
survey period (December 2004), the required information was
collected from heads of villagers, coordinator of community and
Tambon Administrative Organization (TAO).
The data were collected by household survey using a structured
interview questionnaire. Similarly, field reconnaissance survey,
group discussion, and field observation could be used for obtaining
information from the area.
Household interview e The household survey is conducted
with the families, who live at the system site and use the
system. The household head can be taken as the respondent; if
the household head is not available other members of the
household can be contacted.
Key informant interview e The key information interview with
project staff, local leaders and local government officers is done
after the household interview. The key informants are those
who have good knowledge and awareness because they can
provide additional information.
Group discussion e Group discussion is conducted with the
organizations in local study area (such as, head of village,
teachers, etc).
Field observation e Field observation is intended to get additional
observation on physical aspects, asset condition, attitude
of respondents and ongoing activities of local people participation
in community hybrid electrification system
management.
The PV array is composed of 100 Shell SQ75 modules rated at
75 W1 each, installed in five parallel strings of 20 modules
connected in series, providing 7.5 kW total peak power. The
array is south facing and is tilted at 15.
The diesel generator has a rated capacity of 60 kW.
The battery bank consists of three parallel strings of 60 cells.
Two volt battery (deep cycle lead acid type) with a 700 Ah
nominal capacity was used. The total storage capacity is
2100 Ah.
Grid connected and bi-directional inverters used have an input
of 120 VDC and an output of 220 VAC. The connection of bidirectional
inverter on the AC side allows an extension of the
output power. The inverter provides a constant power supply
in terms of voltage and frequency and uses the batteries as
buffer.