Power System Considerations for Undersea Observatories

Power systems for undersea observatories combine ideas from terrestrial power systems and switching power supplies with experience from undersea cable systems. Basic system tradeoffs for various design decisions are explored in this paper. First, design questions including whether the power delivery should be alternating or direct current and a parallel or series network are examined. This introduces the question of maximum power delivery capability, which is explored in depth. A separate issue, the negative incremental resistance presented to the delivery system by the use of constant-voltage converters, is examined, and the resulting dynamics explored by simulation.