Thermoeconomics, cost benefit analysis, and a novel way of dealing with revenue generating dissipative units applied to candidate decentralised energy systems for Indian rural villages

Attractive economic performance of energy systems is important for their long term sustainability. In this
paper, a cost benefit analysis (CBA), standard thermoeconomic analysis, and a new method that
combines the two was applied to seven modelled candidate decentralised energy systems for small
Indian rural villages. By including elements of CBA in standard thermoeconomics, economic inefficiencies
at the component level and revenue adjusted costs of exergy for each stream were ascertained. The
analysed systems all produced household and irrigation electricity as well as a secondary product or
service, which in some cases utilised waste heat from the electricity generation process. The system that
produced distilled water as a secondary product was the most economically sustainable out of those
modelled. While the standard thermoeconomic electricity cost remained around 0.5 USD/kWh for all
analysed systems, the benefit to cost ratios varied from 0.29 to 0.97, demonstrating differing appeal to
outside investment. By incorporating CBA into standard thermoeconomics the accounted revenue
produced a larger spread in exergetic costs than standard thermoeconomics (for example, an electricity
cost range of 0.217e0.507 USD/kWh), thus providing a better comparison of systems with different
energy end uses.