CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Through the years, street lighting provided a number of important benefits in

the society. It has been used to promote security in both urban and rural areas and to

increase the quality of life by artificially extending the hours in which activities can

take place.

In line with this, electric utilities, municipalities and barangays play a vital role

in street lighting. By reason of financial concerns, most deprived municipalities or

barangays fails to act on responsible planning, design and maintenance of public

lighting infrastructure. In addition these government authorities have the function to

create a well-lit environment which will contribute to the safe and comfortable

movement of vehicles and pedestrians during the hours of darkness.

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 On the other hand, street lightings are directly linked with the use of electricity.

This was said as electricity is needed to supply power for lighting loads which merely

comes from various generating plants ranging from small to large sizes.

Fig. 1.1 Electricity-Generating Plants in the Philippines

Fig. 1.2 Power Generation per Source in the Philippines

The Philippines is rich with these large electricity-generating plants, as shown

in Fig 1.1, about 37 of which are in the form of solar, hydro, geothermal, coal, diesel,

wind and others with their percentages as shown in Fig. 1.2. Despite of the presence of

these large electricity generating plants, still, there are some small areas in the

Philippines which have not yet been reached by the electricity grid. As a result of which,

the availability of accessible power supply in the said areas is compromised,

particularly some rural areas due to the cost of energy distribution and due to the risk

of illegal connections. One of the said areas is the bridge located at Brgy. Tanato, City

of Balanga, Bataan. The bridge has no lights which is the result of unavailability of

electrical source on the said area. The price of setting up lighting infrastructure and the

running cost is a burden on the barangay. For this concern, an alternative and reliable

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source of energy is a potential solution. A small investment on renewable energy such

as sun, wind, flowing water, biomass, hydrogen gas and the like may be considered.

Fig. 1.4 Tanato Bridge

On the other hand, according to DOST PAGASA, Philippines as a tropical

country produces a mean annual rainfall ranging from 965mm to 4,064mm every year.

Also, 1,000mm to 2,000mm of which are collected as runoff by a natural topography

of 421 principal river basins, 59 natural lakes and small streams. Bataan, a peninsula

and as one of the provinces in the Philippines, has some of these wealthy inland waters

specially rivers. Mostly, these rivers are only used for irrigation, agriculture and

recreation. One of which is the Tanato River.

These natural resources have the energy coming from moving bodies of water

which can be harnessed thru the means of mechanical and electrical devices which is

typically known as hydro energy.

The proponents thought of converting this energy from these fast flowing bodies

of water, specifically Tanato River, into electrical energy using a pico scale

hydroelectric system. This system will help the remote area to have its own source of

clean, accessible yet low-cost power supply. Furthermore, pico-hydropower will be

utilized for the electrification of the street lights to be installed in the bridge in the

nearby – Tanato Bridge.

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 The study will be conducted by doing a series of research regarding the overall

system elements first. This will be followed by the planning of various designs to be

applied, methods to be used as well as principles to be adopted. Subsequently,

fabrication of the system comes into place. Finally, the system will be tested based on

the predetermined parameters and will be evaluated for the assessment and possible

modifications of the system.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The problem of the researchers is basically the unavailability of accessible

generating system in providing low-cost electricity for lighting loads.

Therefore, this study aims to design and to install a 75W pico hydroelectric

system for street lightings in Brgy. Tanato, City of Balanga, Bataan. In line with this,

the team sought to specifically answer the following questions:

1. How will the design affect the performance and the reliability of the system?

2. Will the system’s generator be able to produce 75 watts of power?

3. Will the street lights be able to power up for 12 hours each day?

4. Will the generator be able to sustain a speed of 1500 rpm to 1800 rpm to have

an output frequency 50 to 60 Hz?

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1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The beneficiaries of the research will be the following:

The University. The study will surely benefit the University in a way that it

will give way to more discoveries and it will bring credit if the research will be

improved and modified.

The Researchers. Primarily, the research will also bring benefits to the

researchers because it will give the researchers additional knowledge and information

to be gained and used for present and future.

The Travelers and Pedestrians. This research will benefit the travelers and

pedestrians passing the bridge as its paves way for them in having the safety and

security specifically at night as these are some of the basic necessities of a man.

The Local Government Unit. This research will benefit the local government

as it will help in the prevention of road accidents and crimes on the said area. In

addition, this will lessen the electric consumption consumed by street lights.

The Government (DOE/DENR). Government, upon taking the output of this

project, could add another variety to the list of renewable energy sources. This will also

help as it generates a clean and eco-friendly form of electricity without harming the

environment upon installment.

Future Researchers. Future researchers can rely to this study which can serve

as a reference and will give them further ideas and information future development.

Also, this study can be further developed upon recognizing the recommendations stated.

1.4 SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

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 The scope of the study is the design of pico hydroelectric system in Tanato

River. This study focuses on the generation of renewable energy thru the flow of water

in the river of Brgy. Tanato, City of Balanga, Bataan.

The electrical output of the system will produce a minimum generator power of

75 watts. This will able to generate power for the eight 19-watt LED lamps.

Furthermore, the system will be designed to carry a generator speed with a minimum

of 1500 rpm to a maximum of 1800 rpm to obtain a frequency of 50 to 60 Hz. On the

other hand, the illumination will only cover areas from the either ends of the bridge

starting from the one rail to another. Also, the location of the street lights is solely for

the bridge of Tanato in the said barangay.

This study will be conducted from February to April 2018, when dry season

occurs. Thus, minimum head and velocity can be measured which will be available all

year round. In line with this, the system is not designed and prohibited to operate on

extremely dry season and extremely rainy season especially during floods and cannot

be tested aside from the aforementioned months.

Anything that goes beyond the said concerns are disregarded. Moreover, some

calculations, assumptions, and selections will be made as a consideration of a proper

and realistic design.