Cycled Diesel Power Plants

Dual battery cycled diesel power plants with properly selected hardware show promise of becoming the most economical and efficient means of non-conventional power generation for remote sites with loads from 300W up to 2000W. If properly operated, they can be expected to require only two maintenance visits each year and no major overhaul within a 10-year period. If the power consumption of a remote site without commercial AC power is reduced to a kilowatt or less and the site´s continuously running diesel power plant is converted to the cycled mode, the operational cost of the site can be reduced to about one third. This paper presents the cycled diesel concept and describes our experience in the design, implementation and operation of a prototype plant based on this concept.