The grid extension has long been the primary means of electrification of the region. However, connection to the grid is most of the time practically impossible due to geographical remoteness, thick jungles, rugged terrains, high costs of supply, low household incomes, low consumptions, dispersed settlement of consumers, and inadequate road infrastructures. As a result, decentralized diesel generators are most often used for rural electrification in the region. However, the high costs that are associated with the transportation of fuels and the maintenance of those systems make them unsuitable for rural electrification in developing countries. On a world basis, fossil fuel resources are experiencing a rapid depletion, resulting in an ever-increasing price which tends to make them unaffordable for developing nations. The growing evidence of global warming phenomena due to the release of greenhouse gases when burning those fuels is another critical reason for reducing our dependence on them. Therefore, finding alternative energy sources to meet the growing energy demand while minimizing adverse environmental impacts is becoming an imperative task.

Renewable energy sources, namely solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and hydro, being inexhaustible, locally available, free, and eco-friendly can constitute potential sources of alternative energy, especially for local power generation in remote rural areas. Increasing interest has been given to their utilization since the oil crises of the 1970s.

The main drawbacks associated with the utilization of renewable energy sources are their unreliability and inability to work efficiently due to their intermittent and fluctuating nature, which generally leads to the over-sizing of the system, thereby increasing the investment cost.

How can hybrid renewable energy systems constitute a sustainable way for meeting the challenges of rural electrification in sub-Saharan Africa?