Techno-Economic Feasibility of Energy Supply of Remote Dump Site in Jordan Badia by Photovoltaic Systems, Diesel Generators and Electrical Grid

In the development of energy sources in remote regions in Jordan at the brink of the 21st century, it is necessary to view the use of solar energy in all applications as one of the most promising new and renewable energy sources. As a contribution to the development program of remote areas in Jordan Badia, this paper presents three energy supply alternatives (photovoltaic system, diesel generator and electric grid) for a dump site for providing the electrical loads to the dump site according to their energy requirements. The result of this study shows that remote dump site in Jordan Badia will require about 5.32 kWh/day or 1940 kWh/yr to meet their basic power requirements for such loads as lighting and electronic appliances-radios and fans. Four dynamic indicators were used to compare the economic-effectiveness of these energy systems. It is found that providing electricity to a dump site in a remote zone using photovoltaic systems is very beneficial and competitive with the other types of conventional energy sources, especially considering the decreasing prices of these systems and their increasing efficiencies and reliability. They have also the advantage of maintaining a clean environment. It is recommended that solar photovoltaic-based dump site electrification application should be encouraged by the government, especially for those rural sites without access to a grid supply.