Electronic Load Controller for Hydropower Systems

Abstract

Electronic Load Controller (ELC) is an electronic device which is designed for power management in micro-hydro power plants. The project investigated the requirement of some form of regulatory mechanism in the off-grid standalone hydro power generating systems in the power range of 5kW – 100kW, where there is an absence of cost-efficient speed governors and such other devices. The aim was to develop a device which may allow the generator to generate power at full-load capacity, provide the required power to the consumer, and divert the surplus power to connected dumping loads. This was achieved both in software and hardware. In software, simulations were done on Proteus & SIMULINK®, while the hardware involved controller design using PIC as well as ARM Cortex controllers. The working model in both software and hardware yielded appreciable and positive results. Testing and verification showed that it is possible to keep the generator operating at a constant full-load capacity and manage only the output as per the user’s requirement. This yielded the added advantage of a constant mechanical speed of rotation and hence a constant power quality of the generator. Furthermore, the techniques used for frequency sensing and switching ensured an accurate and temporally correct reading of the frequency and absence of harmonics while switching. The parity between results obtained via software and hardware further confirmed our findings.