Hi Wrenches, I've got a site visit for a largish ranch hydro site tomorrow. I am relying on info from someone who doesn't know all of the nitty gritty details about how the power system works (like size) but I want to try to educate myself a bit. I know a bit about hydro but I'm no expert.
As its been reported, this site runs hydro direct and has on off-grid solar system backup the hydro. There is a manual transfer switch that allows them to select between power systems. They are annoyed because lately they are getting clogged up a lot and take a long walk up the hill to switch systems. They would like this to be automatic. My first question is can you run a power system from hydro direct in the 10 -100 kW range? If so, how do you adjust for varying load? Can you have a dynamic turbine speed put out good 60 Hz power by adjusting rotor current? I get the impression it works fairly well typically but high water can wreak havoc on the hydro. I'd like to offer a more automatic/robust solution. To me, it makes sense to rectify the hydro and feed the battery bank directly and use the inverters to serve the load. If it clogs up, I can give them an alarm. Another option may be to feed the inverters AC input with the hydro, and the internal transfer switch will transfer to battery power when the hydro voltage collapses. My third solution would be to replace the manual transfer switch with an automatic solution. To me, the rectification solution seems like its the most straight-forward because it doesn't rely on the power quality of the hydro turbine. Feeding an AC input on the inverter and/or ATS will depend somewhat on voltage and frequency regulation of the hydro system. I know that the info I'm giving here is probably flawed but I'd be interested in what you think is the best solution for this situation. -- Mac Lewis *"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates*
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