An experimental investigation of the Distributed Electronic Load Controller: A new concept for voltage regulation in microhydro systems with transfer of excess power to household water heaters

Abstract

Constant voltage and frequency can be generated by a stand-alone Self-Excited Induction Generator (SEIG) driven with a fixed-speed low-head hydro-turbine when the electrical load is maintained constant by an Electronic Load Controller (ELC). However for a Conventional-ELC (C-ELC) most of the generated electrical energy can be dissipated in the dump load if the village load is low. So, the objective of this research is designing a simplified ELC for each household to transfer the excess power for domestic consumption in addition to providing voltage regulation for the generator. A regular ELC, possibly of reduced rated power, should still be installed at the generator site. At the same time, a simplified and inexpensive ELC is installed at each household. The proposed controller, installed in each household, is referred to as the Distributed Electronic Load Controller (DELC). MATLAB simulation results verify the feasibility of the proposed approach. Experimental results using the MSP-430 LaunchPad microcontroller are also presented to verify the validity of the proposed DELC approach.