Dear Roger,
The effect of a "voltage regulator" will depend upon just what it IS that we are calling a "voltage regulator"
I think so.
A battery really likes a steady, constant, even-ish current until full, when it's terminal voltage will rise to an easily discernable "fully full" voltage. What this voltage is depends upon the battery, of course. A "12v" car battery will charge at about 12.5 volts for ages, and then rise to about 14.- when full. One has to become used to watching these things.
"Regulators"
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Most "regulators" simply "saw-off" so many volts, which if you multiply by the current going thro (Amperes), you know the power which the regulator is wasting into heat for you. If you use this sort of thing in series between the generator and the battery, then when the charge current will vary a lot as the battery charges. The situation being - by Ohms Law - that the current in the circuit will be determined by the Generator volts, minus the battery volts, minus the volts wasted for you by the regulator e.g. 23-5-11 or 7 volts divided by the total resistance of the circuit generator (5 Ohms, say) cable -
0.25 Ohms say, and battery .1 Ohm, say which is a total of 5.35? Ohms, so the current would be 7/5.35 Amperes in this instance. Generally, the sum is I (amperes) = Sum of voltages in the loop, divided by Total resistance of the loop. It's very simple, but we need to actually KNOW what these mysterious components actually ARE - in real electrical terms rather that techno-jargon !!
Better - and far cheaper than a "regulator" is simply a resistor of a suitable value - Ohms - and heat dissipation rating - Watts. This will give a more constant charge "profile".
A hydro-electric plant I imagine gives a pretty constant output (compared to wind, at least) and so you need to choose a battery as near as possible - but lower of course - to the usual voltage of the generator. Next decide what a comfortable current for the generator is, then do the sums:
R will need to be (Genvolts - Batt.volts)/Happy.current
You may find a very long and not so fat, cable will do the trick. I hope you have a reasonable volt and amp-meter.
Don't forget a "diode" of suitable amp rating, to stop the battery turning the generator if the brook gets low !!
I have been doing Wind-energy for about twenty years and if you send me an email, I can send you some pretty serious info and picture or two.
Best wishes + Happy New Year
G. 'bert Vaughan,
Nikiup, Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria
bert.windon @ gmail.com