Links to other ELC designs

Designs and building instructions

Humming Bird

Analog ELC building instruction - not a finished product.

Not recommended anymore - the digital remotehydrolight is an improved version of the hummingbird.

Basic design is max. 10 kW. Can be extended to 3 phase and 30kW.
switching method: triac phase angle, 3 staggered angles per phase
max. 3 channels per phase
the 3 phase version adds up to quite a bit of analog circuitry and a big PCB. Repair of this PCB (high voltage damage, probably lightning) turned out to be very work-intensive.
Capacity is limited to 30KW (15KW for 110V)
Adapting the design to specific customer's needs is very time-consuming.
Modern features like mobile communication or software-based configuration are not possible.
For someone who has not built the hummingbird himself, on-site adjustment, error-diagnosis and repair is exceedingly difficult.

Manfred Mornhingweg

Based on a Picmicro MCU. Instruction - not a finished product. Knowledge how to program microchip pics is necessary.

Switching method: triac zero crossing
Add as many channels as you like, you are the engineer.

This ELC has some clever ideas, like prioritized user loads.

However any modifications require modifying the code and reprogramming of the microcontroller

Also it has no protection features (operating parameter monitoring), and the design is optimized for cost (no optocouplers). This is perfectly okay if the designer/manufacturer of the ELC is also the operator.

As of 2017, M. Mornhinweg also sells a finished 20kW version for 1000 USD.

Remotehydrolight

Originally based on the Hummingbird from Jan Portegijs, it's now a simplified microcontroller based design.

Max. 18 channels (6 per phase), 2kW per channel, max. 36 kW,
phase-angle triggered triacs, single angle per phase. No staggered triggering.
No additional protection features, no valve control, no options, but simple and cheap.

The PCBs are produced in batches of 100, and then hand-soldered in through-hole technology in a shop in Pakistan.

Quality of the soldered PCB can vary - each one needs to be checked.

The final assembly is done by trained locals in Afghanistan.

For larger capacities, multiple ELCs are operated in parallel.

Price calculation

Design and software available on the website (registration required)

Available Products

Protel Multi Energy

Available product

up to 500KW

Switching method: Double Thyristor (SCR)
channels: 3 or 6 (one or 2 per phase)

Renerconsys

Conventional digital ELC (DLC), similar to the PME one

2 loads per phase, 6 total
up to 500kW
Switching method: Double Thyristor (SCR)

Digital Flow Controller, similar to the hydrocontrol

up to 10 MW
Water Valve Control

Palmers Mechanical

Available product. No technical details available on the website

Fastec Powerflow

Available product.

up to 35 kW per phase
Switching method: triac zero crossing.
8 and a half channels. The "half" channel is a channel with a dump load which is half the size of the others. Dump loads are either fully on or off, no "dimming" (proportional regulation). So with the half load, you can achieve 16 different total load steps.

The 20kW version was around 1000 USD in the year 2010.

Dhavamani Technologies

Available product, allthough website has not been updated since 2014.

Prices available online.