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To tackle the global sustainability challenge, the energy system needs to transition towards a sustainable system, since it is responsible for two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions. To reduce emissions researchers urged for a 100% renewable based energy system, in which photovoltaic (PV) energy production is seen as a key component. Social aspects should be considered and participation from individuals is needed. This thesis aims to answer the question“How can small-scale photovoltaics (SSPV) contribute to a transition towards a sustainableenergy system?” The case of Austria and Sweden. This thesis conducted 10 in-depth semistructured qualitative interviews from each country, applying PESTLE framework in coding. Results were assessed through a unique combination of Backcasting as a lens, eight Sustainability Principles (8 SPs), and PESTLE. SSPV enables individual contribution to the energy transition. SSPV has a limited role to play in the energy system in Austria, but even more limited in Sweden. Both countries are currently overwhelmed with the demand for SSPV. Since SSPV is not sustainable according to the 8 SPs the method of Backcasting should be repeatedly applied for SSPV to assess if this trend is truly contributing to a sustainable energy system.

Access to energy is an important part in the development of most countries and societies, linked to both social and economic growth. Nevertheless, 70% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa does not have access to electricity, which brings consequences to several of these areas. A country to which this largely applies is Mozambique, where the percentage of the country's population that had access to electricity in 2021 was only 31.5%. Working towards the goal of electrifying the least developed countries in a sustainable way, solar technology is believed to have potential to play a vital role, as 60% of the best terrestrial-based global solar resources of the world are located in sub-Saharan Africa. Mini-grids and solar off-grid solutions can further help address the issue of lack of electricity access, especially in rural areas. In previous studies carried out in the village Linga Linga in Mozambique, off-grid solar solutions have been implemented for a small energy demand. With the intention of giving a larger part of the village’s population access to energy services such as light, phone charging and computer access, this thesis will investigate and design an off-grid PV system for a community center in the village. The main research question that will be answered in this report is "How can solar energy be used to supply a community center in the village Linga Linga with a low-cost, reliable and sustainable electricity supply?". To answer the research question, relevant data and information were collected through a literature study on the situation in Mozambique, off-grid PV systems and on PV system components such as inverters, batteries, PV panels and charge controllers. Interviews were also carried out in the village to be able to calculate the expected energy demand of the community center. The community center’s daily energy demand for weekends was estimated to be the highest, at 7 544 Wh with a maximum power demand of 1 230 W. To meet this requirement, the, Tillgång till energi är en viktig del i utvecklingen av de flesta länder och samhällen, kopplat till både social och ekonomisk tillväxt. Ändå har 70% av befolkningen i Subsahariska Afrika inte tillgång till el, vilket får konsekvenser för flera av dessa områden. Ett land som detta till stor del gäller är Mozambique, där andelen av landets befolkning som hade tillgång till el 2021 endast var 31.5%. I arbetet mot målet att elektrifiera de minst utvecklade länderna på ett hållbart sätt tros solteknik ha potential att spela en avgörande roll, eftersom 60% av världens bästa jordbaserade globala solresurser finns i Subsahariska Afrika. Mininät och solenergilösningar utanför nätet kan ytterligare hjälpa till att lösa problemet med bristande tillgång till elektricitet, särskilt på landsbygden. I tidigare studier utförda i byn Linga Linga i Mozambique har off-grid solenergilösningar implementerats för att tillgodose energibehov för små system. Med avsikten att ge en större del av byns befolkning tillgång till energitjänster som ljus, telefonladdning och datoråtkomst, kommer detta examensarbete att undersöka och designa ett off-grid solcellssystem för ett kultur- och fritidscentrum i byn. Den huvudsakliga forskningsfrågan som kommer att besvaras i denna rapport är "Hur kan solenergi användas för att förse ett kultur- och fritidscentrum i byn Linga Linga med en låg kostnad, pålitlig och hållbar elförsörjning?". För att svara på forskningsfrågan samlades relevant data och information in genom en litteraturstudie om situationen i Mozambique, off-grid solcellssystem och om systemkomponenter såsom växelriktare, batterier, solpaneler och laddningsregulatorer. Intervjuer genomfördes även i byn för att kunna beräkna det förväntade energibehovet för kultur- och fritidscentrumet. Kultur- och fritidscentrumets dagliga energibehov för helger uppskattades vara högst, 7 544 Wh med ett maximalt effektbehov på 1 230 W. För att möta detta krav valdes huvudkomponenterna så att systemet hade en

Successful energy system planning is dependent on detailed electricity demand information. Especially in developing countries, pre-generated load profiles are often unsuitable as appliance ownership and usage vary significantly across borders, between urban and rural areas, and on household and industry levels. Synthesizing load profiles is often hindered by the inaccessibility of tools due to cost barriers, global unavailability, or required technical knowledge. As currently, no easily accessible and usable tool is available during energy system planning in rural areas of developing countries, we incorporate the open-source load profile generator RAMP into our web-based energy system simulator NESSI4Dweb+ to provide an intuitive user interface. We conduct an applicability check with self-collected data from a guesthouse in Sri Lanka, analyzing the impact of load distribution and magnitude on the economic, environmental, and reliable energy supply, that validates the artifact's relevance and ability to empower local decision-makers.

The energy system is undergoing a major transformation where the dependence on fossil fuels needs to be replaced with solely sources of renewable energy. The increased share of renewable intermittent electricity production, together with urbanization, electrification, and digitalization, creates challenges for the operation security in the electricity system. Moving from a centralized to a decentralized electricity system is considered a solution to face the challenges of the energy system. In EU's Clean Energy Package, the concept of energy communities emerged to achieve decentralized energy systems. Energy communities lack a clear definition, but overall, it can be explained as a collaboration between local stakeholders who produce, consume, and manage their own energy systems to create economic, environmental, and social benefits. In this study, the definition of energy communities is broad and is defined as a local area where electricity is shared between at least two buildings through a direct current grid or virtually through smart meters. As the concept is underdeveloped and lacks a clear enabling framework, the purpose of this study is to investigate how energy communities are developing in Sweden today. The focus of the study is to examine the roles of actors in the development of energy communities and the driving forces they have, the challenges and associated solutions that actors have encountered, and the system benefits that energy communities can contribute to. The results show that roles in an energy community are general and can be taken by different types of actors depending on local conditions, interests and knowledge. Despite the variation of roles, the roles of an aggregator, knowledge bank, and a project manager are essential for the development of energy communities. The drivers for developing energy communities are closely linked to the project manager and their internal goals within the organization. Drivers are largely dependent on the ro

In the transition from fossil fuels, the energy sector is facing an urgent transition to a more sustainable way of consuming energy and using power resources. In the coming 15-20 years, Sweden is looking to increase their need for electricity by 65%, which the infrastructure is not yet prepared to manage. During the energy crisis of 2022, the households managed to lower their consumption substantially, with high prices as the main incentive. However, this testified to their potential to be a part of future solutions in the energy sector. During the crisis, the use of digital services increased drastically, and the energy companies with, by far, the highest customer satisfaction rate were those utilizing data, algorithms and automatization in their value offers. The purpose of the study is therefore to deepen the understanding of how the usage of digital services in energy management supports the customer in lowering consumption, with the aim to provide industry recommendations on digitalization’s possibility to maintain or prolong the positive consumption effects. By conducting 23 semi-structured in-depth interviews with an explorative sample of house owners in southern Sweden. The results show that the use of digital services supported the customer by providing information on price and consumption, increasing energy awareness, creating second incentives to lower consumption and by automating energy management processes. Through theoretical analysis of previous research and the interview findings, this study proposes three overarching strategies of energy management derived from the energy crisis. Further analyzed through a sustainability lens, four industry recommendations for the sector's future digitalization and technology advancement are presented for involving the households in the transition to a sustainable energy consumption.

Energy production and consumption activities account for 76% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to the Historical GHG Emissions database by Climate Watch. Power and heat plants cause 42% of energy-related GHG emissions, while other sectors, like transport, other energy use in buildings, and industry, cause 22%, 8%, and 24% of energy-related GHG emissions, respectively., QC 20230412

The decarbonization of the energy sector puts additional pressure on the transmission network. The main cause for this is that renewable sources are often more abundant in geographical areas far away from the main demand centers, so new transmission lines are required to connect the new renewable energy capacity. In addition, by connecting different geographical zones, the transmission network could smooth the intermittency and the variability of renewable energy production. Thus, the changing energy landscape leads to a need to reinforce the transmission network through the Network Transmission Expansion Planning. Ideally, all the idiosyncrasies of the electricity system are considered in the operation and expansion planning process. However, several critical dimensions of the planning process are routinely ignored since they may introduce parameters that are difficult to quantify and complexity that state-of-the-art planning methods cannot handle. This paper identifies the most relevant elements related to the human factor, which have been grouped around the main topics: the human behind the technical, the human at the institutional level, and the human at the individual level. This paper also provides an additional formulation that can be used to upgrade existing models to include the human element and discusses the implications of these upgrades. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.