Husk Power Systems has developed a “minigrid-in-a-box” solution, which it claims speeds up the deployment of solar hybrid minigrids and commercial and industrial (C&I) systems in rural and peri-urban sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia by up to 100%.
It developed the Prism containerized system at its technology center in India. It has already shown that it can deploy one minigrid per day. The system is truck-mounted for easy transportation to installation sites.
Husk said Prism increases minigrid deployment rates by at least 100% per month, with up to 20 homes and 20 businesses connected within 48 hours. The system reduces capital expenditure per site by at least 7% and operational costs by 20% through pre-deployment standardization and testing.
Husk said it plans to roll out Prism in Sub-Saharan Africa in the first quarter of 2025, including Nigeria, where it has a framework agreement with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to develop 250 MW of decentralized renewable energy projects.
“The World Bank says 160,000 minigrids would be the least-cost solution for electrifying 380 million people living off the grid in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Husk. “According to a Minigrid Industry Roadmap released in 2022, minigrid rate of deployment “may be the most daunting challenge” for the industry, noting that 10 companies with 10 times the current maximum rate of deployment are needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), access to modern, affordable, clean, reliable energy for all.”
Prism supports C&I applications, whether for captive or grid-connected systems. Its rapid deployment makes it well-suited for responding to grid failures caused by extreme weather events or other climate shocks, as well as serving displaced communities.
