Is AC or DC Distribution Line the Way Forward for Solar Swarm Grid Implementation?

Access to electrical energy is still a problem in the global South as many rural areas are either in total darkness or a spot of light in the darkness. The challenge does not only face the rural areas but also urban areas due to the climatical changes being experienced. The solution initially seemed to be the Solar Home Systems (SHSs). Still, due to the growing electrical demands in combination with unconsumed electrical power produced during the day by those SHSs, the swarm grid was the best alternative. This work proposes the best way to interconnect households by providing the threshold distance or the distribution line's span, allowing the swarm grid implementer to choose when to use the AC or DC distribution system. After the mathematical modelling and MATLAB simulations, the results show that the maximum distance (span) for the DC distribution system to be deployed is 290 <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$m$</tex> and above that, an AC distribution system should be considered when the shared power is at least 700 <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$W$</tex> (typical for swarm grid and corresponding interconnection to higher tiers).