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Water Power
Large scale hydroelectric power has been used worldwide for a long time to generate huge
amounts of power from water stored behind massive dams. Small scale hydropower has been
used for hundreds of years for manufacturing, including milling grain, sawing logs and
manufacturing cloth. However, it can also be used without a dam to generate electricity for
home scale remote power systems. These so-called micro-hydro installations can be a very
good complement to a solar power system, as they produce electricity 24 hours a day.
Waterwheels--It's important to differentiate between water wheels and water turbines. A water
wheel is more akin the antique version we are all familiar with--a massive wooden wheel that
slowly turns as the creek pours down over it. Water wheels spin slowly, but with lots of torque.
They are also surprisingly efficient!
This is my homebrew hydro plant, using a Banki Turbine design built from scratch. The
generator is a homebuilt permanent magnet alternator. In a Banki design, the water hits the
vanes twice, once upon entrance and then again upon exit. There is only about 3 feet of head
available at the site, and the system is producing about 2 amps at 12VDC, fed by a 4 inch pipe.
Hello Hackers! For a long time I have been fascinated by the thoughts of free and renewable energy. My inspiration to build this
device came from a cabin in the woods which was surrounded by tall trees which blocked out the sun and the wind. This left me
unable to put up solar panels or a wind generator. There is however a small creek which runs on the property.
My online research let me to some work in Guatemala by Sam Redfield. Sam built a very similar device for a small community which
was isolated from power. Sam’s work was featured on MAKE and Gizmodo in 2008.
The power generator in the system is a Permanent Magnet Alternator (PMA) with a pelton wheel directly attached to the shaft. Water
is sent through four jets which strike the wheel causing it to rotate.
The bucket and lid components were initially assembled at the Vancouver Hackspace. The first version of the bucket lid had the water
distribution system assembled from 1 inch PVC parts. After on-site tests failed, I found that this system was too inefficient to
distribute the high-pressure water needed to spin the pelton wheel. Version 2.0 of the water distribution system was more
successful. Version 2.0 consists of a manifold which evenly distributes the water between the four 1 inch pipes.
Parts List:
• Permanent Magnet Alternator (PMA) DC-540 – $229
• A/C kit for PMA – $29
• circular rubber gasket – $3.99
• 5 gallon bucket with lid -
• grinder disc
• 45 degree PVC elbows
• marine goop
• epoxy
• various nuts, bolts and screws
• 200 feet of 2 inch water line – $350
• 2 inch valve – $19.79
• 2 inch pipe connectors – $ 2.86
• 2 inch to 3 inch rubber connector – $11.69
• short section of 3 inch pipe – $1
• 3 inch pipe cap – $4.76
• 4 one inch plugs – $8.24
• 30 feet of 1 inch water pipe – $18
• 1 inch to 1/2 inch connectors – $4.28
• small bits of wood – $1
• various hose clamps – $5
• zap straps – $1
approximate total cost: $750
Power output measurements:
valve 1/2 open: 25.6V
valve fully open: 56V
The power bucket uses approximately 1.7 liters per second of water at full power.
On my next visit to the cabin I plan to bring a dummy load and a second multimeter so I can measure the current produced by the
system.
Thanks to nefis from the Make magazine blog for his comments:
power output
There’s an output chart for the DC-540 on the Windblue website. A voltage output of 56V corresponds to the alternator spinning at 625
RPM producing 10 amps, generating approx 560 Watts of power.
http://www.windbluepower.com/Permanent_Magnet_Alternator_Wind_Blue_Low_Wind_p/dc-540.htm
and specifically this chart
Planned future improvements:
The creek runs slowly in the summer time which means that I can not run the system at full power without draining the reservoir. My
plan to overcome this issue is to ‘pulse’ the system by using some sort of water level sensor in the reservoir. When the reservoir is full
the system would automatically open the valve, then as the reservoir is nearing empty the valve would automatically close. My biggest
hurdle in getting this modification to work is finding or building a controllable 2 inch valve.
Assembly tips:
Drill holes in the bucket lid to accommodate the shaft and two mounting posts of the PMA. The circular rubber gasket is placed
between the PMA and bucket lid around the shaft. Apply copious amounts of marine goop around the bolts on the bottom of the lid to
stop water from splashing up on the PMA.
The pelton wheel is constructed from an 8 inch grinder disc with 12 ‘spoons’ mounted around the circumference. The spoons are made
by cutting the 45 degree PVC elbows in half. Holes are drilled in the grinder disc and the cut elbows are mounted using nuts and
bolts. Marine goop is applied to the fasteners to stop them from coming undone.
The water jets are mounted to the bucket via the wood ‘jet aimers’, for lack of a better name. Holes are drilled in the sides and the
bottom of the bucket to allow it to drain.
Assembly images:
pvc elbow
open valve
1 inch adapter