POWER CONDITIONING

Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Why we need power conditioning
3. Our choice of Inverter
4. Efficiencies
5. Conclusion

2. WHY WE NEED POWER CONDITIONING

Power conditioning is essential if the appliances within the autonomous dwelling are going to be normal, off-the-shelf components. Otherwise, specially constructed appliances, suitable of tolerating a large range of current/voltage conditions, would be needed.

The electricity from the PV array is of a constantly changing nature, as the insulation reaching the PV array is rarely stable for more than short periods of time. We must condition the power so that it is AC, at 240 V. as the current leaving the PV is always DC.

Again for the fuel cell, the voltage can be adjusted to suitable values by stacking the individual cells in series or parallel. However, fuel cells are expensive and it is unlikely that we will be able to afford stacking many fuel cells to obtain a sum total output of 240 V DC. Thus an inverter for the fuel cell was also required. Fuel cell manufacturers are extremely searce. However, the group identified one manufacturer, (Exeltech from Fort Worth, Texas) who were forthcoming with details.

Our choice of inverter