Chris Mason explains how he has harnessed his modest mill stream to generate a significant proportion of his domestic electricity. Could you do something similar?
Quite the best RU-vid video there is on small hydro: good camera work held together by an engaging commentary from an engaging gentleman. Altogether you communicate very clearly the varied aspects of this project: technical, operational and financial. Well done indeed!
I wish people could remember the difference between kilowatts and kilowatt hours. kW is an instantaneous measure of power, it is the rate at which work is being done. kWh is a measure of the total work done over a period of time. 1kWh is more properly 3.6 megajoules or MJ. Conflating kWh and kW makes it difficult to work out what he is talking about. He's generating about 48kWh per day, not 2kW per day. It's a bit like saying miles per hour per day. The electricity companies use kWh because it's easy to explain to people. If you run a 1kW electric heater for an hour you have used a unit of electricity.
Nice setup! I think for this location a crossflow / banki turbine is the better choice! In germany we also call it "Ossberger-Turbine". The francis turbine you have used has a good efficiency WHEN water is enough! If the water is on a low level ( summertime ) the efficiency goes down! We see it in many plants. I mostly built crossflow turbines. I like this turbine cause you can take it from 2,5 m and you have no problems with leaves or other things cause the rotation of the turbine have a self cleaning effect! And when it´s less water you go on a smaler runner width!
As far as I know, here in Brazil, the power company would only "store" energy for you. For example, solar arrays by day injecting surplus to the grid, then the house draw from the grid at night. They don't pay your surplus if it is a small amount. I know they are planing to change this, though...
Thank you for sharing this video. I wish you could use the water wheel as well as the micro turbine for some application. Could you add a seond micro turbine to the down pipe so you could harvest the waterflow a second time? I would be inspired to add several auto alternatos to the belt drive to gather more power during peak flow periods. Oh well, it's easier to think about something than it is to do the job! Best Regards from Virginia usa
You have one of the best home generator sets out there. I see you have what appears to be a synchronizer for your small generator. I expect that it must control the speed in order to close the circuit breaker within a 5 degree window otherwise it would do damage to your generator set. Thanks for sharing.
Very clear explanation about the whole process of financing, setting up, mantaining and the grid system. Still a bit sad to not being paid for the last bit of eletricity going to the grid. Maybe not worth it?
Glad my state of Pennsylvania was able to supply you with the equipment!👍 Sad part of it sounds like he has a stupid 'smartmeter' that they won't allow power to go back through to credit!
Nice little hydro installation. For me it is not even a decision, I am using the water wheel. It is less expensive to replace the copper/bronze bearing liners on a pair of bearing for the waterwheel than to do a new £13,000 hydro install. Personally I believe he should not take public funds(Energy Saving Trust) to do a private hydro project and one where the home owner is getting paid for the excess energy produced. Keep history alive, waterwheels powered the industrial revolution both in the Europe and USA they are certainly good enough to power this bloke's house.
Judging by his sly grin at the end and age of the property, I'm willing to bet that he has an old clockwork meter which spins backwards when energy flows into the grid, hence not investing the £100ish out of £10k project costs to have the meter changed!
Back when this system was installed, 2.5kw was the most that head of water could generate. I think you are probably correct that greater efficiency is now possible.
What a bummer. There are many suppliers for small hydro power plant in central europe, espacially in the Alps, because they have eaxct the same small becks like mentiont. Hard to understand why sourcing from over see.
Anton I believe the sourcing problem simply comes down to culture. People around the world understand the concept of conservation but few people have deeply invested in renewable technologies. e.g. here in CA, U.S. we are great promotors/advertisers of renewable energy. It may be the case that gentleman in the video simply googled for suppliers of micro hydro systems. I observed through youtube that people in Europe are very tightknitt, and the companies that you mentioned may simply cater to the microeconomy of a community/state rather than the macroeconomy of the world. Google put up the most popular choice rather than the most practical i.e. Pennsylvania. ; )
Question why not charge lithium batteries from a MPPT charge controller, this way your initial outlay might seem a lot, but what you will get back is 100% electricity for your home, totally off grid !,,,,,,,,,,just an idea I like Victron Energy unit as the build quality is great
@@ArranEye I did a google search and nothing came up for a micro hydro turbine manufacturer in Pennsylvania. I remember these turbines as they have a stainless steel scroll case which was and is still unusual. Do you remember if the turbine has a tiny Francis runner or small propeller?
It sounds probable that the manufacturer may have ceased trading, or perhaps has been taken over. All we saw is in the video, so I cannot answer your technical question, sorry.
No, they are still in business. Nautilus hydro turbine has pictures of the same older gentleman in your film on their website during the construction phase of the instillation at Ironmacannie Mill, Scotland. Link below for the pictures.
Use it or lose it.... give it away to let the power company charge somebody for it. I would only do that if that's a two-way street if you could use theirs and they could use yours both for free. If that's not the case then they need to put a meter up. And there are cheaper alternatives than the lead acid batteries. There's a small fortune there that you're giving away.
Firstly, lots of people undertake projects like this for reasons other than commercial gain. Secondly, you get the electricity free, on top of the feed-in tariff. Your figures therefore equate to an investment of £50,000! The reality is that this installation paid for itself long ago - and continues to generate income, as well as useful electricity.
There is a saying in this country (U.K) where someone could be described as knowing the price of everything, but the value of nothing. There is another which is self explanatory, and isn't used as a compliment, If the cap fits, wear it!
Hi Chris - Here's the link for (I believe) the best DIY micro-hydro units in the World; for price, quality, simplicity, durability, cheap spare parts, and ease of maintenance. Check out this URL for both high head and (in your case) low head turbines... www.powerspout.com/
