This work presents the results of
the characterization of a standalone photovoltaic system for the
electrification of a household located in rural area in the western region of
Cameroon: Nziih-Bafou in Dschang (5.35°N, 10.05°E and 1900 m). In order to cope
with themaintenance charges and reduce the investment cost, a small mill was
added to the appliances of the household for income generation. The assessment
of the energy demand was made by taking into account the reactive energy due to
the heavyconsumption of energy by the mill’s motor, especially during ignition.
The sizing of all the system’s components was carried out with the prospect of
determining an optimum design in accordance with daily electricity demand, site
irradiance profile and climatic conditions. In this context, tilt angles
applicable to the PV structure and that allowto receive the maximum irradiance as a function of the periods of the
year were determined using the Hay model.This approach provides the system with incident irradiance greater than
or at the limit equal to that received by a horizontal surface on the same sitecompared to the case of a single tilt angle where the irradiance on the
inclined plane is often lower than thaton the horizontal. The economic analysis of the PV system showed an initial cost of $4448and the Life Cost Cycle amounted to $24,495. This amount corresponds to
a present cost per kilowatt hour of $0.44. The Net Present Value(NPV) of the project ($7793) over its lifetime (20 years)shows a payback period of less than 4 years.
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