It is common in the rural electrification sector to have different tariff levels for different types of customers (especially in the case of mini-grid projects). MicroPowerManager enables users to define different customer types and groups and to assign different tariff levels to each.

Connection Types

Connection Types refer to the broad categorization of each electricity connection by the primary function the electricity supply serves.

Common examples include:

• Household – private residential use
• Institutional – public or community-serving facilities (e.g. schools, clinics)
• Commercial – small-scale businesses and service providers
• Productive Use / Industrial – larger-scale or power-intensive enterprises
• Not Specified – for cases where classification is unknown or not relevant

Connection Subtypes

Connection Subtypes provide a more specific classification within each Connection Type and are the level used to assign different tariff levels.

Examples include:

Connection Type	Example Subtypes
Institutional	Primary school, Health clinic, Community center, Water pumping station
Commercial	Retail shop, Bar/restaurant, Guesthouse, Workshop, Tailoring business, Market stall
Productive Use / Industrial	Ice-making plant, Welding workshop, Brick making operation, Irrigation system
Household	(No subtypes defined by default)

MPM users can define various connection sub types and assign a different tariff level to each (see Tariff section).

Connection Groups

Connection groups are an additional layer of flexibility given to MPM users in order to further categorize each connection.

A Connection Group can be used to represent a logical grouping of connections that share something in common. Unlike connection types, no different tariff levels are assigned to connection groups. Their main purpose is to simplify management, monitoring, and reporting.

Examples of possible connection groups:

• Pilot Mini-grid A (Lakeview)
• Institutional Electrification Program 2025
• Commercial Productive Use Initiative
• Solar Village Cluster North
• Private Concession Area 3

Connection Groups help organize data in Reports and can be linked to Targets. They make it easy to view totals or statistics by project, area, or other groupings.

Summary

Concept	Purpose	Affects Tariff?	Example
Connection Type	Broad functional category	❌ No	Commercial, Institutional
Connection Subtype	Specific use within a type	✅ Yes	Retail shop, Clinic
Connection Group	Logical grouping across connections	❌ No	Pilot Mini-grid A, Solar Village Cluster