Microhydro Systems

[kellys_eye]

Anyone got one? or been involved with one?

We have a local (community) hydro scheme that currently puts 350kW into the grid and gets paid for the power it produces. Profits are spent locally on various projects.

Locally we have no powered delivered to us directly from this system but that might change in a SHTF situation but there are lots of opportunities for smaller hydro schemes as there are dozens of small streams at various locations.

I have access to one (with limitations) that has the potential for 500W to 1500W depending on flow rates but this would require I run cables some 150m+ from the power output end to anywhere I can usefully use it.

Still, it's an opportunity that can't be overlooked but if anyone has built a small system I'd like to know how they got on and any real issues they came across.

[Mortblanc]

I have built two small systems many years ago.

Solar is simpler, cheaper and more efficient mostly due to the transmission problem. You lose too much amperage pushing the power through long cables.

Good solar units are so accessible now that they must be considered first. The technology is so common in the caravan and boating industry there is no need to spend money and waste time on small hydro.

There are people all over GB living on the canals in narrow-boats powered by roof-top solar panels and two or three lithium leisure batteries. There are also people sailing the world in small boats with all accessories powered by solar.

Get off the "survival" forums where people are hiding in the shadows and praying for the "dark ages" to return and spend some time on the caravan websites and boating forums. Some of those people have retired to full time caravan and boat life completely off grid for long periods.

They have been doing for years what you are presently trying to reinvent.

[bigpaul]

what is this fixation with power systems?
post SHTF KISS, Keep it simple, stupid.

[Straight Shooter]

I was going to use the stream using a alternator , but not enough continual volume of water although plenty of head , I have since found out .....the highways department have altered the water courses ......it’s now run off from the mountain so not a stable source anymore .....that’s why I’ve gone solar , and put the alternator on a bicycle ......wild child refuses to do no more than two hour stints though .

[kellys_eye]

Horses for course BP. Where I am I can rely on moving water a lot more than I can clear skies. Solar, whilst beneficial in some circumstances, would need to be massively over-engineered to be of practical use where I am. It'll either deliver 'zero' (most of the time) or power a smelting foundry (two weeks of the year) so alternatives are sought.

A genset is, of course, the simplest way (on the KISS principle) but that's limited by fuel availability and the next level of KISS (if electricity is to be part of a post SHTF life) is hydro - for me.

Yeah, sure, I could live without electricity but life is sure a sh1t load better WITH it - if only for lighting! Energy = work and the more energy you have access to the less work 'you' have to do (or the more work you can do in a give time span). Disregarding electricity is a fools errand as it's not too difficult to get some, somewhere, as others point out by solar or wind.

Those lucky enough to have a water course have the POTENTIAL for 'free' electricity ad-infinitum (not withstanding faults, wear etc) and there's no denying hydro is one of, if not the best versions of energy harvesting.

I've got all the info, I've got the skills but I haven't (as yet) got the inclination to proceed. The idea that a genset and fuel will see me through is still set in my mind and on a minimal use basis I reckon I could last around a year without going off-site for fuel supplies.

I'd kinda hope that any SHTF situation would eventually restore some forms of normality in a reasonable time span (year of two/three). I can't really accept an EOTWAWKI lookout (but could adapt) as the years take their toll on me anyway so mother nature would overtake me before an EOTW situation would BUT if I need to extend a decent lifestyle around energy then input from those who've done a small hydro system would be useful.

I've seen a lot of Tubes on it, read a lot of books etc so should really have enough info to go for it but there's nothing quite like encouragement!

Anyway, daily life is enough 'work' so maybe I'll leave it for the SHTF to happen before starting such a project. I'll start gathering the bits - just in case!

[bigpaul]

sorry mate, I lived for 12 years off grid in a rural location without power of any kind, I lived very well and I enjoyed every minute of it, I would still be there now if I had owned the land, I didnt.
when SHTF I will simply revert to that lifestyle.

[bigpaul]

(25 June 2021, 07:56)bigpaul Wrote: sorry mate, I lived for 12 years off grid in a rural location without power of any kind, I lived very well and I enjoyed every minute of it, I would still be there now if I had owned the land, I didnt.
when SHTF I will simply revert to that lifestyle.
occupation of Britain can be traced back 40,000 years and for most of that time people lived quite happily without electricity, it is only modern technological lifestyles that have made people reliant almost addicted to electricity.
and that will be why they fail in a post SHTF world.

[kellys_eye]

Electricity is not necessarily an addiction. I want a post-SHTF situation to be one where life carries on in as much of a normal way as possible, for as long as possible, only mitigating the major fail issues as they occur. If I can have power I see no reason not to have it and/or use it.

I prefer to work from the top down, not starting from the bottom and staying there.... if I end up there that's one thing but there's a huge space between where I am now and the bottom and I'll make the journey to the bottom take as long as humanly possible.

Isn't that the whole point of prepping and survival?

[Mortblanc]

KE, if you are a "long time prepper" as you claim why do you not have all of these functions in place?

You don't know what trousers to wear for rough work, you don't have your systems in place, except for water and sewer which I suspect was in place when you bought the place, and I have not heard you mention having a single square foot of your 100'x100' estate under cultivation.

You have absolutely zero sense of situational awareness or concept of security.

It seems that you are asking the most elementary questions then crapping on the answers you get because they do not line up with some philosophy you have been thinking about for years but never put into action.

The people here have their food stocks, their water reserves, their power and their transportation needs already sorted. They have been sorted for decades in some cases. And here you come spouting off your "top down" luxury survival philosophy when you really don't know what survival is outside of your You-tube, internet forum phantasy.

So when this SHTF experience you dream of occurs and the groups you expect to come through eventually arrive, and they will, you go right ahead and turn on your lights, run your genset and your tractor with the PTO, and play your stereo at top volume while you grill some steaks and explain how you don't have enough to go around and they should have planned better, like you. See how that works out for you.

Some 50 kilo mom with two starving kids is going to cave in your head and move into your abode!

[kellys_eye]

I suppose this place (forum) is therefore the domain of people that have already got everything they need, all set up and organised and nothing left to do other than await the 'inevitable' then?

Questions are not 'permitted' and advice is 'given under protest'?

If I wanted a place to come to hear that the established membership only want to 'do down' anyone that hasn't already done everything possible to secure an uncertain future then it seems I've found it.......

Many of my questions I already have answers (and solutions) to. What I see here is a site that has posts that have 'last updated' datelines going back to 2018 and WELL beyond - I was resurrecting posts to bring some - what I thought were valid concerns - back to the attention of what might be a new influx of members (such as myself) that have recently decided that events are turning sour and that, late as it may be, want to make some plans for an uncertain future.

I really should have just used the forum as a reference, taken what I needed from it, not bothered offering any input, feedback or raising awareness in others and pretty much kept my head down and let events take over. Like some of the established members.

Or, like others on here, maybe I should make myself a loin cloth, carve a spear and go live in the Kalahari for the remainder of my life?

Seems like I've found a site of people named 'Jack' who are 'alright' and happy to slag off those who wish to help others regardless of their capabilities and preparedness.

Seems like my input isn't welcome.....

Suits me.

I might drop by in another 5 or 10 years and see if any of the threads I started or contributed to have had any updates in the interim - I suggest they won't have if the rest of the forum is anything to go by.