Advanced management strategies for remote-area power-supply systems

An operating strategy based on partial-state-of-charge (PSoC) operation has been developed for a remote-area power-supply (RAPS) system in Peru. The facility will power an entire village and comprises a photovoltaic array, a bank of gel valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries, a diesel generator, and a sophisticated control system. The PSoC schedule involves operation below a full state-of-charge (SoC) for 28 days, followed by an equalization charge. The schedule has been evaluated by operating a 24 V battery bank under simulated RAPS conditions in the laboratory. It is found that operation between 58 and 83% SoC causes the negative-plate potentials to move to significantly more negative values during charging as the PSoC duty progresses. This behaviour is undesirable, because it can lead to the activation of a preset limit and a subsequent reduction in system efficiency. Lowering the PSoC window to 47–72% SoC or 40–65% SoC during the 28-day cycle is found to stabilize the negative-plate potentials. The behaviour of the negative plates in gel batteries is very similar to that observed for absorptive glass mat (AGM) designs of VRLA batteries operated in hybrid electric vehicles.