Electronic load controller (ELC) design and simulation for remote rural communities: A powerhouse ELC compatible with household distributed-ELCs in Nepal

Abstract

Microhydro power is particularly suitable for Nepal's mountainous terrain and remote communities unconnected to a power grid. While Nepal's rural electrification rates have increased rapidly over recent decades, firewood remains the most prevalent cooking fuel — a significant WHO health concern. The electronic load controllers (ELCs) used in microhydro installations, which divert excess power to a dump load to regulate voltage and frequency, are among the components that most commonly fail. A previously proposed distributed electronic load controller (DELC) installed in each household can decrease system vulnerability to component failures while also diverting surplus power into household heaters to pasteurize water or slow-cook food, rather than into a single dump-load at the generating site as typical ELCs do. A three-phase generator supplying multiple homes is simulated with a powerhouse ELC to determine the range of load changes and DELC faults tolerable while maintaining Nepal standards for voltage and frequency regulation, and THD. Results show meeting voltage regulation standards does not confirm frequency and THD standards are met. Also, results suggest power ratings, cost, and weight of the ELC and dump load can be significantly reduced, and up to 2446% of a household's cooking can be done with dumped surplus power.