Off Grid Hydro Charging System

I would like to preface this by stating I am an ABSOLUTE novice, so please speak in simple terms.

I recently purchased this gadget from Amazon. I’m able to produce approximately 25 volts with my breath (I know, it’s meant for water).

I have a reliable source of water near my cabin that flows year round and I’d like to utilize this to charge a 12 volt car battery for supplementary lighting.

From casual research, I’ve observed other similar systems require a dc to dc charge converter, but I have no clue what I should be looking for on this front. I guess it’s used to regulate the voltage due to the variable nature of the power generated?

My rough idea is:

Hydro turbine —-> DC to DC converter —-> Charge controller —> 12V Battery

Any input/advice would be greatly appreciated. Especially regarding the DC converter.

Thanks!

My friend George, who is not on reddit, is an inventor who has developed and patented a more efficient turbine for use in several applications, including hydroelectric power: https://gmcbride.substack.com/

I’m a newbie on hydroelectric plants but thought this might be an interesting discussion for all of you who are well versed on this topic.

I am from Georgia and part of my countrt is occupied by Russia (never heard that before now have ya)

Problem is that half of one of our biggest plants wound up on the occupied territory and we are forced to provide workers, fix and maintain infrastructure while they receive 30% of the generated electricity. The plant was bigger back in the day but whatever it’s left now, part of the tunnel that brings the water to the generators and the generators themselves are on the occupied part connected to a small reservoir. While we are left with a huge dam, two big reservoirs and aqueducts

Link of the map of the entire plant. Put red lines for you to understand the occupation line and sorry for the Georgian script: https://ibb.co/C2XzHPR

Question here is, is it technically possible to reengineer this and have the control tower where the generators are on our territory. The small resevoir on the occupiers side doesnt have a purpose at the moment because it was connected to another tunnel with generators which is out of service after the war. The river enguri itself goes to the black sea and acts as the occupation line/border between the rest of Georgia and the occupied territory. How much of a trouble is my country in with this?

Hi I’m interested in buying or building a cheap hydroelectric generator that are rated at minimum 100watt. What are my options? I want it portable and water flow isnt a problem as I have a giant river where I plan to use it.

Hi I’m interested in buying or building a cheap hydroelectric generator that are rated at minimum 100watt. What are my options? I want it portable and water flow isnt a problem as I have a giant river where I plan to use it.

As work begins on the largest US dam removal project, tribes look to a future of growth

The largest dam removal project in United States history is underway along the California-Oregon border — a process that won't conclude until the end of next year with the help of heavy machinery and explosives.

But in some ways, removing the dams is the easy part. The hard part will come over the next decade as workers, partnering with Native American tribes, plant and monitor nearly 17 billion seeds as they try to restore the Klamath River and the surrounding land to what it looked like before the dams started to go up more than a century ago.

https://candorium.com/news/20230731040907957/as-work-begins-on-the-largest-us-dam-removal-project-tribes-look-to-a-future-of-growth

Trout farmer here. I’m in the process of building an on-farm processing facility and I’m curious about the feasibility of powering some or all of the electricity demand with hydro power from the outflow of the trout farm.

My farm contains two parallel raceways that have flow rates of 500-1200gpm on each side depending on the time of year. This water comes in from a dam across a creek (permits and water rights in place) and gravity flows through the farm and out into a settling pond, then rejoins the creek.

I can fit the outflow weirs with dam boards and run each outflow through a 12” pipe. I’m looking for someone to point me in the right direction in terms of relevant turbines that I should be looking at. From there I can figure out how much electricity I might be able to generate and whether or not that meets or exceeds production requirements.

Many thanks.

Scotland has all the ingredients to implement collossal Pumped-Storage Hydro projects.

It has ample rainfall, an ancient mountain range perfect for dam building and the largest fleet of intermittent wind power in the UK, and very little energy storage to take full advantage of it.

It's also close enough for the wind turbines of Denmark, Northern Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France to act as a mega-battery for a large part of Northern Europe.

But does the UK government have the vision to approve such a scheme? Would it contribute to another wave of Scottish independence?

More details on our write-up 🔋.

Link: https://www.aquaswitch.co.uk/blog/can-scotland-become-a-mega-battery-for-the-whole-of-europe/

Unlike "traditional" hydro projects, Run-of-the-River hydro is permissive when it comes to the flow of rivers. It passively generates energy 24/7 for as long as the river keeps churning water, and floods a much smaller area than regular hydro-dams.

It can be huge-- harnessing 4GW of power from a copious tributary of the Amazon River, or it can be tiny-- like a 5kW Turbulent hydro harnessing energy from the flow of an irrigation canal.

Link to our write-up: https://www.aquaswitch.co.uk/blog/run-of-the-river/.

Hello all

I am helping a friend build out a small water wheel but the drive belt from the water wheel and the generator aren’t getting along. The drive belt slows down the water wheel considerably almost to a stop. Seeing as this is our first time any advice would be appreciated.

Perhaps we aren’t using the right belt or maybe it’s necessary to add a pulley to the system?

Is the process of producing electricity from a man made river any different than a natural river?

I appreciate any clarifications 😊

https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2023/jun/06/tva-may-build-another-pumped-storage-facility-tfp/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_TVA_News&fbclid=IwAR2XIMu2Y9n0CeSelBGhO4VSZ74hv5WPCcFU1lEGDXItWkZ6xN98Z7wFa3c

Has anyone on here made a successful DIY hydroelectric project? I’m interested in ideas. Preferably something with a low head but high rate of flow.

Thanks!

I have rpm but the torque is what I can't figure out. It's 20 gpm 2 ft/s through a 2 inch pipe with 7.5 ft of head. Hitting a 2 inch by 2 inch square blade with a blade coefficiency of .2 or .3. I cannot figure it out please help thank you.

This calculation shows 2.3meters of head with .00126m3/s of flow through a 30% efficient turbine is 8.4watts output

But when i run the number myself for HP on my system specifications the formula is Power (HP) = Torque (lb.in) x Speed (RPM) / 63,025

2.8lbf-in * 21 rpm / 63,025 = .00093hp --> .68watts of power

What am i doing wrong here, why is this number so different than the calculation?

Ive been using hydropower calculators for a while to help design my small pumped hydro model.

This one ive been using shows 8.4 watts output from a velocity of 2feet/s , a head pressure of 7.5 feet and .00126 m3/s (20gpm) with a 30% efficient turbine(shooting low here). I just realized though that the formula they listed is for "hydroelectric dams potential energy P=η×ρ×g×h×Q " and there is another formula used for " tidal turbine energy kinetic energy P=0.5×η×ρ×Q×v2 " both give very different outputs, potential being 8.4 watts and kinetic being .64 watts roughly.

I have a small model pumped hydro system built with the specifications listed above. But im unsure of which formula to use since i do have 7.5 feet of head pressure (potential) and 20gpm moving water (kinetic), it seems my system has both potential and kinetic? Which formula should i use for pumped hydro calculations since these are for different use cases?

I cannot find any information on this topic, cant even pay someone locally for help so any guidance is appreciated. my project works at 8.4 watts but not so much at .64 watts and i cant afford to build this twice. Thank you for your time.

If you had 20 gallons per minute at 20 feet of drop, the power output largely depends on the size of your turbine blade diameter and generator efficiency.

How can these things be accurate if those data points aren't there?

Also bonus question, can I just make a 20 foot diameter wheel and make more power as long as it was made light enough?

Hi I graduated with a BS in environmental engineering. I have experience with pumps, stormwater infrastructure, water treatment, etc. I’ve worked a few jobs in water resources and currently have a job more focused on geoscience/hydrography (mapping the ocean floor). In each of my jobs, I’ve found myself more interested in the mechanical systems than the other aspects. I would love to be able to shift over in working more on the mechanical systems that makeup water resources and even explore more into hydroelectric plants, working on turbines, etc.

My questions are 1) Do I need more MechE experience/schooling? And 2) should I be looking for more technician jobs if I really want to be in the field.

Please excuse my limited scope in the field of hydroelectricity and MechE.

Thanks

I've been having a lot of trouble with them... looking for others who might've tried these affordable units and made it through to a reliable system...

It seems that most of the issues are around the bearings supplied -- they have failed multiple times. One of the times it resulted in a burnt out stator.

The company says they'll warranty the stator, but if I can't get the thing to run for more than a week, then its not even worth repairing/replacing parts...

Other issues include the voltage regulator is a kind of on/off system, which seems hard on things...

Any advice? source of better bearings? Some encouragement that these things will work?

Thanks.

Hi we are working on a school project regarding the development of an improved type of hydroelectricity. If you have the two minutes, please consider filling out our short survey. https://forms.gle/rvSiUqXiuszDRhY39. We appreciate your time!

I have a relatively large (averages about 30ft wide/2ft deep) but VERY slow moving creek on my property with very little head. I can dam it up alittle (maybe 1m/3ft) but not much more than that. I have tried to find actual systems that are affordable, "resistant" to large debris (it goes through a forest), and sufficient for a single home (and barn) it it looks like vortex setup might be good for low head situations but I was only able to find one or two and they were too big/expensive, like for neighborhoods? I have an electric UTV and car and a "normal" 2k sq ft house with HVAC, water heater etc. I am not a great DIY'er, especially when it comes to figuring out electricity (ohms, amps. volts wiring etc just confuse me to no end) so any thoughts/advice on kit options would be appreciated!!!!