Welcome & Introduction: The smarter E Conferences 2023

This session explores how digitalization is revolutionizing off-grid energy projects, enabling scalability and efficiency in underserved areas. Experts will discuss cutting-edge solutions based on the use and application of digital tools to support planning, development, and operations ultimately enhancing affordability. Attendees will gain insights into leveraging digital tools for optimized planning and project management, customer engagement, monitoring, and sustainable growth. Real-world case studies will highlight successful implementations, showcasing how technology bridges the gap between innovation and impact in energy access.

Off-grid solar systems are often the least expensive option for rural electrification. Solar home systems can power individual households, while mini-grids can supply entire villages. Each comes with its own advantages, disadvantages, and challenges. The aim of this session is to explore challenges as well as success stories. It takes well-functioning components such as battery systems, charge management and inverters to make projects successful. Proper system sizing, maintenance and repair management, as well as a robust financial concept are also necessary. If one of these elements is missing, the electrification will not be sustainable. This session will focus on the aspects mentioned above. The speakers will present successful and unsuccessful approaches and discuss what can be learned from them.

This session explores how digitalization is revolutionizing off-grid energy projects, enabling scalability and efficiency in underserved areas. Experts will discuss cutting-edge solutions based on the use and application of digital tools to support planning, development, and operations ultimately enhancing affordability. Attendees will gain insights into leveraging digital tools for optimized planning and project management, customer engagement, monitoring, and sustainable growth. Real-world case studies will highlight successful implementations, showcasing how technology bridges the gap between innovation and impact in energy access.

Photovoltaic prices have fallen continuously in recent years - a trend that should translate into a growing market for off-grid solutions. Declining costs are crucial for rural electrification in particular, making sustainable energy supply economically viable in remote regions. However, so far many of these price advantages have not yet reached the people that need them most. Do existing framework conditions to foster rural electrification still work in this new market reality? Which measures are needed to ensure that cost reductions reach our target group? This session discusses strategies for improving the availability of low-cost off-grid solutions, financing and innovative business models. A look at successful practical examples shows which political, economic and technological levers need to be pulled to make off-grid PV accessible on a large scale.