The following tool, adapted from a World Bank report on electrification in Africa, shows the services mini-grids of different sizes can provide to customers. Mini-grids in Tier 1 provide the least amount of electricity with the most restrictive hours of use, while Tier 5 mini-grids provide the most electricity during the most hours of the day. Developers can use this framework in discussions with end users to determine which level of service they want and what they’re willing to pay for different levels of service.
| Tier | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attributes of Access | ||||||
| Peak available capacity (W) | N/A | >1 W | >20 W | >200 W | >2000 W | >2000 W |
| Duration of supply (hours) | N/A | >4 hrs | >4 hrs | >8 hrs | >16 hrs | >22 hrs |
| Evening supply (hours) | N/A | >2 hrs | >2 hrs | >2 hrs | 4 hrs | 4 hrs |
| Feasible Applications and Wattage | ||||||
| Radio (1 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Task lighting (1 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Phone charging (1 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| General lighting (18 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Air circulation (15 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Television (20 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Computing (70 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Printing (45 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Air cooling (240 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Food processing (200 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Rice cooking (400 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Washing machine (500 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Water pump (500 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Refrigeration (300 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Ironing (1,100 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Microwave (1,100 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Water heating (1,500 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Carpentry tools such as power drill and hand-held planer (1,500 W) | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Air conditioning (1,100 W) | ✓ | |||||
| Space heating (1,500 W) | ✓ | |||||
| Electric cooking (1,100 W) | ✓ | |||||
| Woodshop tools (2,000 W) | ✓ | |||||
| Welding (3,000 W) | ✓ | |||||
| Grain milling (4,000 W) | ✓ | |||||
| Machine shop (5,000 W) | ✓ | |||||
| Possible Electricity Supply Technologies | ||||||
| Dry cell | ✓ | |||||
| Solar lantern | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Rechargeable batteries | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Home system | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mini-grid/grid | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Source: Tenenbaum, B. et al. (2014). From the Bottom Up : How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa. Directions in Development. Washington, DC: World Bank. | ||||||