Small Scale Hydro ?

[visionary]

Has anyone ever seen a simple design for a small scale hydro electric project? I've been looking unsuccessfully for several years. It seems that whenever I find anyhting related to home power generation the costs come in the tens of thousands of dollars. Modern gas generators up to 3000 watts can now be purchased for under $400.00. I recently purchased a 1000 watt gas generator for $188.00 that meets most of my electrical needs for my acreage. I believe one of those generators could be hooked up to a small water wheel. Does anyone know of anyone who has done it successfully ?

[Tilapia]

Has anyone ever seen a simple design for a small scale hydro electric project? I've been looking unsuccessfully for several years. It seems that whenever I find anyhting related to home power generation the costs come in the tens of thousands of dollars. Modern gas generators up to 3000 watts can now be purchased for under $400.00. I recently purchased a 1000 watt gas generator for $188.00 that meets most of my electrical needs for my acreage. I believe one of those generators could be hooked up to a small water wheel. Does anyone know of anyone who has done it successfully ?

I have seen some, but they are not ready to hit the market yet, still under development. I'm looking for one myself, since we circulate a huge amount of water every hour.

[Tim207]

Has anyone ever seen a simple design for a small scale hydro electric project? I've been looking unsuccessfully for several years. It seems that whenever I find anyhting related to home power generation the costs come in the tens of thousands of dollars. Modern gas generators up to 3000 watts can now be purchased for under $400.00. I recently purchased a 1000 watt gas generator for $188.00 that meets most of my electrical needs for my acreage. I believe one of those generators could be hooked up to a small water wheel. Does anyone know of anyone who has done it successfully ?

I have seen some, but they are not ready to hit the market yet, still under development. I'm looking for one myself, since we circulate a huge amount of water every hour.

I looked into this last year and found some generators in the $2000 to $4000 range. I don't emember where but I found it with google.

[lannarebirth]

As it doesn't conflict with TV's business, maybe they'll allow this link to another forum:

http://www.fieldlines.com/section/hydro/1

[Issangeorge]

maizefarmer use to be our local expert on these type of things. I know he designed and made wind generators, maybe he could do the same for water, but he has dissapeared from the forum. Issangeorge. Maizefarmer where are you, we need you?

[Offroadlanna]

You could try a pico-hydro unit - basically a generator with a rotor in the water and the flowing water drives the rotor. Seen them at a lot of places in Laos just suspended from a wire in the river. Prices vary with capacity but have asked in shops in Laos and you can get a 1 kW unit for less than 100 USD. Not the safest though and every year several people are killed when they connect the wires while standing barefoot in the water.

[MrSquigle]

Edited October 28, 2007 by MrSquigle

[visionary]

As it doesn't conflict with TV's business, maybe they'll allow this link to another forum:

http://www.fieldlines.com/section/hydro/1

I checked out your recommended site and it seems to hold some promise. So far I haven't found any working models there though. A lot of people there seem to know the math behind it so it might be as easy as choosing your generator, style of drive wheel and posting a request for math help to determine the size of wheel you will need. I also visitied some pico-hydro sites and learned there are 200000 of them in Viet Nam but I didn't find any photos or schematics.

[macan]

I looked into it before and seem to remember the term used for small-scale plants was 'micro-hydro'... maybe try googling that term.

[visionary]

I looked into it before and seem to remember the term used for small-scale plants was 'micro-hydro'... maybe try googling that term.

Searching under the name micro hydro has definitely produced the most promising results so far. There are some mass production units available as low as 750 watts. The ones I have found operate on water that is passed through a pvc or steel pipe system from a higher elevation. The minimum required drop is 10 feet. With greater drops you need less water volume. The ideal water sourse seems to be artesian wells created by driving a pvc pipe into a water bearing hill side.

[chownah]

I looked into it before and seem to remember the term used for small-scale plants was 'micro-hydro'... maybe try googling that term.

Searching under the name micro hydro has definitely produced the most promising results so far. There are some mass production units available as low as 750 watts. The ones I have found operate on water that is passed through a pvc or steel pipe system from a higher elevation. The minimum required drop is 10 feet. With greater drops you need less water volume. The ideal water sourse seems to be artesian wells created by driving a pvc pipe into a water bearing hill side.

This is an ideal source of power for micro hydro but it also has the potential of depleting the aquifer which feeds all the natural springs on the hillside and thus destroying alot of highly diversified habitat...I'm not saying that this is always or even usually a problem but it can be a problem....depends on what volume of water is used. I guess it also matters what you do with the water after the generator.

Chownah

[visionary]

I looked into it before and seem to remember the term used for small-scale plants was 'micro-hydro'... maybe try googling that term.

Searching under the name micro hydro has definitely produced the most promising results so far. There are some mass production units available as low as 750 watts. The ones I have found operate on water that is passed through a pvc or steel pipe system from a higher elevation. The minimum required drop is 10 feet. With greater drops you need less water volume. The ideal water sourse seems to be artesian wells created by driving a pvc pipe into a water bearing hill side.

This is an ideal source of power for micro hydro but it also has the potential of depleting the aquifer which feeds all the natural springs on the hillside and thus destroying alot of highly diversified habitat...I'm not saying that this is always or even usually a problem but it can be a problem....depends on what volume of water is used. I guess it also matters what you do with the water after the generator.

Chownah

It boils down to a question of scale. The scale of the homeowner should have a negligible impact. If I was going to do it myself I would do it alongside an existing creek.The other possibility is to divert it from a creek and then return it to the creek when you are done.

[Martin]

For retirees interested in microhydro, a magnificent holiday experience in Spring or Autumn is to do the Everest Trek, walking in from Jiri in Nepal, and taking the time to investigate each little village's electricity scheme along the way.

There is a great variety, from homespun ones to a very sphisticated automated one given by a Japanese firm.

I did the trek in 1990 and 'stumbled on' these schemes. Six months later, I took 20 Singapore technical college students over the same route as their Engineering Training Practice programme.

The students were most enamoured of the one at Junbesi (if I remember aright). To keep down the capital outlay, there weren't even any switches. When the village miller-electrician stopped milling flour and coupled the belt-driven generator to the turbine, in the early evening, the village lights came on. And when he decided it was time for sleeping he dropped the voltage to dim the ligts as a warning, and then shut down the system five minutes later.

The lodges paid according to their potential usage, regardless of whether they had their bulbs in or not. There were one-bulb lodges, two-bulb lodges, three-bulb lodges and the biggest was a four-bulb lodge!

It seems that it is quite safe to go, if a bit of commom sense is exercised. There is a Nepali government officer doing an MA in Rural Development Studies at Khon Kaen University this year and he assure me that the troubles with the communists have been restricted to the non-tourist areas by the agreement of both sides. Political argy-bargy shouldn't interfere with making a bit of money!