Small Scale Hydro
Small Scale Hydro
Hydro power drums up images of huge dams such as hoover dam. However there are many smale scale hydro power systems that can generate energy day and night throughout the year for your home.
If you are fortunate enough to have a small stream, river or creek on your property there are several ways you can generate energy. As long as the water source doesn’t dry up you can have a very affordable electrical plant. This is often more affordable than wind power or solar voltaic power.
What do you need?
There are two things you need to generate electricity with hydro. Those are flow and head. Flow is the amount of water passing through the unit, and head is the height difference between the top of the water run and where your hydro unit is located. The higher the drop and greater the flow the more electricity you can generate.
The Units
Pelton Wheel
The most popular type of residential hydrogenerator is a pelton wheel turbine. Pelton wheels work best for high-head, low flow sites. The water that is channeled through a pipe is focussed on a series of cups that spin a wheel. The wheel in turn is connected to a turbine that generates electricity.
Submersible Propeller
The submersible propeller works best for fast running streams. A stream that flows between 6 mph and 9 mph are adequate. They can also operate in as little as 1 foot of water. A major advantage of a propeller system is the fact that it doesn’t require any modifications to the stream (a dam) to generate electricity.