Remote Monitoring of Micro-Hydropower plants using Python

Abstract

Hydraulic turbines and synchronous generators are two critical components of micro-hydropower plants, and their maintenance is crucial to ensure the longevity of the system. However, maintenance can be challenging in rural areas where access to facilities is limited, and there is a lack of local expertise to ensure effective ongoing maintenance. To solve this issue, we have developed a permanent remote monitoring system that can monitor various parameters such as rotor speed, rotor mechanical angle, output active power, output reactive power, mechanical power, gate status, current, and voltage phases. The system enables real-time data interpretation and timely intervention for maintenance operations. It is based on an experimental Matlab/Simulink hydroelectric plant model and uses IoT cloud Thingspeak for data storage, LabView for visualization, data analysis, and alert triggering. The system employs HTTP and UDP protocols through a Python program for data transmission. The results obtained from the system are highly satisfactory, making it deployable on real micro-hydropower plants.