{"id":24181,"date":"2022-04-01T09:22:55","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T07:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/?p=24181"},"modified":"2022-04-07T21:31:24","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T19:31:24","slug":"solar-power-regulates-a-hydroelectric-generator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/01\/solar-power-regulates-a-hydroelectric-generator\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Power regulates a Hydroelectric generator."},"content":{"rendered":"

A 400kW hydroelectric plant near the Slovenian\/Italian border had been running inefficiently for years until a third year electrical student decided to put it right as part of his coursework.<\/p>\n

The problem was that the signalling apparatus designed to monitor the depth of the headwaters, two kilometres distant from the generator, had long since stopped operating because of numerous cabling problems along the route – resulting in efficiency losses of up to 20%.<\/p>\n

Aleks \u017dvikart – who is also an intern at Victron installer Elektro \u0160tumpfl<\/a> – decided to design and build an off-grid power source at the remote headwater so that levels could be monitored remotely.<\/p>\n

TURBINE<\/h4>\n

The Pelton turbine has a horizontal shaft; a capacity of 560kW; and is designed for smaller water-flows with large drops. The turbine is connected to a supply pipeline terminating in a nozzle which directs and controls a circular jet of water pointed at the driver blades. The power of the turbine can be regulated by moving the needle valve in the nozzle.<\/p>\n

The task was to establish a communication between the water catchment and the power plant engine room – measuring the water level at the catchment pool, and sending this data to the engine room two kilometres away.<\/p>\n

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The remote distribution cabinet contains the following components at the water catchment site:<\/p>\n