moving water power, small scale renewable energy

There are lucky few people who get a stream running next to their house. Luckier still are the tiny number of people who have figured out a way to get that water to help power their homes. Small scale hydro power is an ancient and proven technology that can generate electricity, provide mechanical power, and pump water. As long as the water supply is continuous and doesn’t dry up during the summer you could get power year round. To insure that you get renewable energy year round, it could be supplemented by solar power which would be more available in the summer.

Micro-hydroelectric power is the type of power that a typical home owner would find feasible. This source of energy can be more affordable then solar or wind and tend to last longer but may not give as much power. There are a few different types of turbines available, each have their benefits for particular scenarios. Sadly, none seem to work with urban fire hydrants which is the only water source near my place in the city. I dream of someday getting my dream country house powered by renewable cheap energy. One place to actually buy these micro-hydroelectric turbines is ABS Alaskan, Inc. Here is a page on their site that describes in detail the various types of turbines available for sale on their site. They are selling some of these turbines for as little as $1200.00 or so.

Depending on what type of turbine you choose you should determine the amount of vertical drop of your stream and the amount of flow of the stream. This will be important to decide if its feasible or not. You should also check with the local regulatory agencies to determine what is allowable with the source of water that you have on your land. A good overview of some of the basic considerations can be found at daycreek.com

To get more information on moving water power here is some more useful links and information. A good overview on small scale hydro power is at microhydropower.net A great way to learn about micro-hydro power is at this link which shows how to build your own small-scale hydroelectric generator.

Here is a brief article that talks about how two men from the UK have invented a mini-waterwheel that can supply enough free electricity to power a house. This article from Leonardo Energy.org is about using tidal and river power with new turbines made by Verdant Power. They are currently testing a system at Roosevelt Island in New York City that makes use of both the East River’s flow and tidal forces. The Verdant Power website also has some interesting information and links about their promising new technology.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2007 at 9:14 pm and is filed under EcoFriendly, global warming, renewable energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.