The last seven years have seen some shifts in off-grid power generation in low- and middle-income countries, with larger systems and lithium ion as the emerging winner in the rivalry between battery chemistries. Seven years ago, Dr. Henry Louie, an electrical engineering professor at Seattle University, published the textbook Off-Grid Electrical Systems in Developing Countries that was adopted by universities around the world. It appeared to transcend its topical focus, making appearances in courses not just on off-grid electrification, but on sustainability, humanitarian engineering, and a chapter on batteries has even been taught in courses on electric vehicles.
Seven years later, Dr. Henry has published the second edition. The book walks readers through the design and management off-grid systems, including microgrids, energy kiosks, solar home systems and solar lanterns. It elucidates technologies such as solar, wind, hydro, biomass, and batteries, showing how they connect to the social, economic, and environmental realities of rural electrification.
The second edition adds 100 pages of new material, some of it drawing on two NSF-funded workshops Dr. Louie led to expand the ways off-grid electrication is taught in universities. The book takes a longer look at energy justice and energy equity, for example, topics that Dr. Louie has identified as best practices to include in university courses.
“In addition, there are many more examples and homework problems, including those that involve using artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT. In terms of technical content, the space is moving toward lithium ion batteries instead of lead acid, and so there is much more content on that. The section on using computer tools to design off-grid systems is also greatly expanded,” Dr. Louie said in an email.
The second edition is available through the publisher’s site, springer.com, and some organizations may have free access to the book through Springer Link. More than 1,000 slides to accompany the text are also available for lectures.
A PDF of the first edition is found at educons.edu: Off-Grid Electrical Systems in Developing Countries.
Additionally, Dr. Louie has made seven virtual presentations hosted by Engineering for Change. Their content remains relevant even if some of the contextual statistics are out of date. Find them on this playlist: Off-Grid Electrical Systems.
Or browse the links below.
Data-Driven Design for Off-Grid Systems: Electricity in the Navajo Nation
Why the Power Grid Isn’t Everywhere: The Role of Grid Extension in Electricity Access
