Modeling, simulation and control of Pico-hydro power plant

The main objective of this paper is to determine the Pico-hydro power plant mathematical model, validate it through simulation results in order to design an appropriate controller. In this paper the considered Pico-hydro power plant consists of water tank and vane, supply pipe, hydro turbine, DC generator and controller. Each part of the Pico-hydro is analyzed, modeled and simulated. At the end of the paper the entire system is modeled and simulated in two control modes: open loop and closed loop. These two control modes are compared and presented the advantages of each of them. The simulation results are as expected and validate the developed mathematical models. Key-Words: Pico-hydro, modeling, simulation, controller