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The symbiosis between smart minigrids and electric mobility has the potential to improve the cost and reliability of energy access for off-grid communities while providing low-carbon transport services. This study explores the commercial viability of using electric vehicles (EVs), recharged by solar minigrids, to provide transport services in off-grid communities. Preliminary findings are presented from a field trial in The Gambia that aims to assess the techno-economic feasibility of integrating sustainable energy and transport infrastructures in sun-rich regions of the Global South. As a dispatchable anchor load, an EV can improve the technical and economic performance of a minigrid by providing demand-side response services. In the developing world, rural communities are often among the poorest, and inadequate transport services remain a major barrier to wealth-creation. Some solutions to this situation may be transferrable to island communities, which share similar challenges in terms of access to energy and fuel. The first of its kind in Africa, this field trial uses an electric minivan, operating from an off-grid village where it has access to a minigrid whose 4.5 kW p  of photovoltaic modules form the roof of a parking shelter for the vehicle. While there, the taxi can recharge, ideally during sunny periods when the photovoltaic array produces surplus power, thus allowing the EV’s battery to recharge while bypassing the minigrid’s own accumulator. This improves system reliability and cost effectiveness, while providing pollution-free energy for the taxi. Ultimately, the intention is to test different vehicles in a variety of circumstances, but this paper outlines only the preliminary findings of the first of these trials. Early results provide convincing new evidence that commercial viability of such a concept is possible in Sub-Saharan Africa. Some promising scenarios for commercial viability are identified, which warrant further investigation, since they suggest that a taxi driver’s earnings could be increased between 250 and 1,300% in local operations, and even 20-fold in tourist markets, depending on vehicle type, minigrid configuration and target market. It is hoped that these may encourage the rollout of solar-recharged EVs where the nexus of sustainable energy and transport systems are likely to make the greatest contribution to addressing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, by helping to solve the trilemma of providing energy security, social benefit and environmental sustainability in low-income countries.

Preliminary Findings From a Pilot Study of Electric Vehicle Recharging From a Stand-Alone Solar Minigrid