Spanish inverter maker Ingeteam has participated in a solar-storage project to bring electricity to a small village in the Amazon, in South America.
Ingeteam provided equipment and services to install an automated microgrid, based on solar and storage technology.
The quality of life for the 750 inhabitants of Vila Restauracao in the Amazon improved considerably, having transitioned from four hours of electricity a day to an uninterrupted supply.
Moreover, the energy they now have at their disposal is clean, as opposed to their previous reliance on a diesel generator unit.
The energy generation and storage system consist of four solar inverters with their respective solar panels, four storage inverters with their respective battery banks, two biodiesel generator units and low-voltage switchgear for microgrid automation and protection.
During the day photovoltaic power generation not only supplies electricity to the hamlet but also recharges the batteries that will come into operation later in the day.
Therefore, during the night the hamlet is powered by the batteries charged during the day.
When it is cloudy, the battery charge is low and the photovoltaic system cannot provide enough energy to power the hamlet and recharge the batteries, at which point the generator unit is activated to provide the necessary energy to the hamlet and also charge the batteries.