PhD Student (M/F) Smart Control and Real-time Operation of Photovoltaic Microgrids for Electricity Access in Africa

Job Description

Thesis Subject

This PhD is part of the SOMSE project, "Service-Oriented design and smart energy management of PV Microgrids for Sustainable rural Electrification", jointly led by Imperial College London and the GeePs laboratory (Université Paris-Saclay, CentraleSupélec, CNRS, Sorbonne Université).

More than 500 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity, which represents a major barrier to socio-economic development. The sharp decline in photovoltaic (PV) costs has enabled the deployment of stand-alone PV microgrids, which constitute a promising low-carbon solution for rural electrification. However, their long-term economic viability often remains limited, as they typically supply domestic loads that generate little revenue and rely heavily on costly battery storage systems to manage the mismatch between solar production and demand.

Extending PV microgrids to power broader community services (e.g., water, healthcare) and productive uses (e.g., milling, small-scale crafts) introduces loads that are better aligned with solar generation profiles. Many of these uses can also generate higher revenues, thereby improving the economic viability of PV microgrids. Additionally, they are often compatible with demand-side management strategies, such as load shifting, which allow consumption to be scheduled during periods of high solar availability.

The development of real-time energy management strategies for PV microgrids is essential to fully leverage these new services, as it enables better coordination between available solar generation and electricity demand. By dynamically scheduling flexible uses and anticipating the variability of solar resources, these approaches can reduce reliance on battery storage, improve overall efficiency and system lifetime, and lower the cost of electricity supply.

The objective of this PhD is to develop advanced control and energy management strategies for PV microgrids integrating community and productive electrical uses in rural contexts. The project will combine solar irradiance forecasting methods based on machine learning, adapted to low-connectivity environments, advanced control techniques (such as robust and predictive control), and intelligent scheduling of electrical uses. The work will also explore flexibility at the service level by leveraging physical buffers such as water tanks or cold storage spaces to decouple energy use from service delivery.

A major challenge will be to ensure that the proposed methods remain robust to uncertainties (e.g., forecasting errors, demand variability) while being implementable on low-cost and resource-constrained systems. The approaches developed will be validated experimentally in the laboratory and tested through case studies in Kenya and Senegal, in order to demonstrate their impact on costs, performance, and service provision.

Open science, impact, and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): To maximize accessibility, Python will be the primary programming tool used throughout the PhD, all developments will be shared as open source, and dissemination activities targeting local stakeholders will be carried out. The PhD will deliver openly accessible advances for the planning and operation of PV microgrids, provide useful insights for microgrid designers and operators, and support data-driven decision-making for policymakers. The PhD contributes directly to the United Nations SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and supports related goals, including SDG 6 (clean water), SDG 3 (good health), and SDG 13 (climate action), by enabling access to essential services through sustainable energy systems.

Selected publications from the research team relevant to the PhD and the SOMSE project:
[1] Opportunities for decentralised solar power to improve reliability, reduce emissions and avoid stranded assets, Nature Communications, 2025.
[2] Carbon pricing and system reliability impacts on pathways to universal electricity access in Africa, Nature Communications, 2024.
[3] CLOVER: A modelling framework for sustainable community-scale energy systems, Journal of Open Source Software, 2023.
[4] An empirical assessment of direct and indirect effects of electricity access on food security, World Development, 2021.
[5] Large-scale modeling of solar water pumps using machine learning, Applied Energy, 2026.
[6] Microgrid sizing and energy management using Benders decomposition algorithm, Sustainable Energy, Grids and Networks, 2024.
[7] Model predictive control and linear control of DC–DC boost converter in low-voltage DC microgrids: An experimental comparative study, Control Engineering Practice, 2023.

Your Work Environment

The PhD will be based at the GeePs laboratory (Université Paris-Saclay, CentraleSupélec, CNRS, Sorbonne Université).

Constraints and risks

The PhD will involve strong international collaborations. In addition to close interactions and regular meetings with the team at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, partners such as the National Agency for Renewable Energy (ANER) in Senegal, the University of Nairobi in Kenya, and Lancaster University in the United Kingdom will provide complementary expertise, particularly on institutional frameworks and electricity use in rural areas. Regular interactions with companies, funding bodies, and public policymakers are also planned. The PhD candidate will benefit from research stays at Imperial College London and in Africa in order to work closely with local stakeholders.

The work will include experimental activities in the laboratory on electrical devices, particularly for the validation of energy management strategies. The PhD candidate will be trained in applicable electrical safety regulations and supervised to carry out these experiments under safe conditions.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

2300 € gross monthly

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

The research professions