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CLOVER is a python-based modelling framework developed at Imperial College London and published in the journal of open-source software [1], which focuses on modelling various energy-generation technologies in mini-grid contexts. The python-based command-line interface (CLI) software is open-source and published on GitHub. This graphical user interface (GUI) provides a wrapper around the CLOVER software to enable users who are not familiar with python-based CLIs to have access to this code.
CLOVER was developed at Imperial College London as a means of investigating how to best support rural electrification strategies in developing countries. First created by Dr Philip Sandwell, and under continuous development since 2015, CLOVER has been used for studies of electricity systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), South Asia and South America to explore the potential to provide reliable, affordable and sustainable power to rural and displaced communities in-line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals [2]. An example configuration of the framework, with additional features and applications, is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. An example operation of the CLOVER modelling framework to consider the lighting, health-and-wellbeing, and education energy demands for a stand-alone solar PV and battery system such as that which might be installed to power an individual school.
CLOVER has the capability to model energy systems of any size, from solar-home systems to large communities and even industrial applications. Its core functionality is to simulate and optimise energy systems supplied by any combination of solar PV collectors, battery storage, diesel generation and a national grid connection to supply energy.
The CLOVER-GUI package aims to provide a GUI wrapper around CLOVER such that users who are not familiar with CLIs are able to interact with the model, both for academic purposes to extend the research user base, and for the software to compete against commercially-available tools which are currently widely used in industry.
The GUI aims to keep the robustness of CLOVER whilst ensuring improved usability. To this end, the GUI, developed by researchers at Imperial College London, is made open-source, with this installation and user guide/wiki pages provided, to ensure that a wide range of users can access, install, and operate the model for their specific needs. Users can get in touch by emailing cloverenergymodel@gmail.com with any issues that they encounter, or can raise an issue on the Issues page.
The rest of this documentation manual will cover the installation of operation of the CLOVER graphical user interface. If you are aiming to get started as quickly as possible, read the installation instructions and getting-started pages. If you want to configure your setup more thoroughly, read through the configuration pages.
1. Sandwell P, Winchester B, Beath H, Nelson J. 2023 CLOVER: A modelling framework for sustainable community-scale energy systems. Journal of Open Source Software (doi:10.21105/joss.04799)
2. United Nations General Assembly. 21 October 2015, A/RES/70/1 Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 21 October 2015, A/RES/70/1. Available from: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57b6e3e44.html (accessed on 15 June 2021).