Department - Author 1

Electrical Engineering Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BS in Electrical Engineering

Date

12-2013

Primary Advisor

Taufik

Abstract/Summary

This senior project report explains the construction and design of a small, portable water generator that converts kinetic energy flowing in small creeks to electrical energy as a renewable source of energy for the DC House. The DC House, in short, is a project to build a self-sustainable house for Third World countries that utilizes only DC electricity. The system consists of two converters and a charge controller for a 12V lead-acid battery. The first converter converts the hydro generator voltage output to 15 Volts for safe and proper charging of the lead-acid battery by the charge controller. The second converter provides power output for the DC House by converting the 12V lead-acid battery to 48 Volts at a maximum of 60 Watts. The charge controller contains a bi-directional connection to the 12V lead-acid battery that can store the energy generated by the hydro generator for future use during light loads or deliver additional power during heavy loads. Since the system uses DC electricity, interfacing with the DC House eliminates costly and inefficient conversion from DC to AC, and vice versa, normally implemented in conventional methods. Also, assuming the user of the system owns a vehicle, the user can use his/her existing battery without having to buy additional expensive equipment. The Portable Nano-Hydro Power Generator provides a cheap and versatile renewable source of energy that can provide electricity to the unfortunates without depleting the earth’s natural resources.

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