End To End Tour

The top end of the hydro system is a dam that I built in the river.  It is approximately 12 feet wide and 3 feet high.  It was constructed by first building a coffer dam of sand bags to redirect the flow of the river to a single side.  Individual cement forms were then poured one at a time.  All of the cement was hand carried in, and mixed by hand.  There is over 2000 lbs of cement in this dam!  I have since added some extra rocks on the face for reinforcement:

The next element in the hydro system is the filter box.  The filter box is made out of a rubber made stock trough.  Holes were cut in both sides, and flanges were used to attach the six inch pipe to both sides.  A filter was constructed of door screen and placed in the middle to keep debris out of the system.  The entire thing remains covered to avoid freezing and additional debris.

The entire pipe then runs down the side of the river.  To avoid freezing in the fall, the pipe is insulated for its entirety.  The majority of the insulation consists of straw covered with a heavy duty plastic liner.  There are a few spots, however, where it is airborn.  For these sections, I utilized fiberglass insulation held in place with plastic wrap.

The pipe, after 28 feet of drop, then enters into the turbine house.  The turbine house has a cement floor, and an outrace for the water from the turbine.  Inside the turbine house, 4 1.5 inch PVC pipes come off of the main six inch line.  These attach to a series of valves, for maintenance, and eventually attach to the turbine with flexible vinyl tubing.  The water is then returned to the stream in its entirety.  The turbine generates 420 watts of power at 48 volts.

The 48 volt line then crosses the river, and runs up to the inverter shed.  Inside the inverter shed is a Trace series power panel.  It features a charge controller and inverter paired together.  The charge controller is responsible for charging the batteries.  If too much voltage exists, the charge controller diverts the load to a water heater.  Unlike solar panels, you can't simply disconnect the turbine, since it would spin out of control and burn out.  The inverter is responsible for creating the 110 VAC from the battery bank of 16 batteries.

Finally, the 110 VAC is produced and runs up to the house.  It enters the house at a cut out box, and follows closely into a standard breaker box.  There is also a solar system in the house, also seen here, that provides 12 volts for lighting and various 12 volt appliances.  There is a back up inverter in here as well, so I can create 110 VAC with solar as well.

Follow on to a tour of My Computer Network......