Power Spout Micro Hydro Turbines

[Cancertomnpdx]

I would like to contact anyone who has either installed a PowerSpout or similar micro hydro turbine on their property. I am looking for people who are supporting a small house off the grid (600 to 900 square feet) and maybe outdoor lighting.

Thanks,
Tom in Portland, Oregon

[Andrew]

I don’t know of anyone Tom – sorry! But I have to congratulate on having what is probably the best title ever 😀

Scott

[caliskatari]

You might have better luck posting this in a Renewable energy/ Do it yourself installation type forum.. I doubt anyone here has used that specific system.

[Sweetbeee]

[quote=”cancertomnpdx”]I would like to contact anyone who has either installed a PowerSpout or similar micro hydro turbine on their property. I am looking for people who are supporting a small house off the grid (600 to 900 square feet) and maybe outdoor lighting.

Thanks,
Tom in Portland, Oregon[/quote]

Hi Tom,
I’m assuming your water source has adequate head to produce enough electricity to power your house. We will be installing a micro/hydro system on our property and will be enlisting help locally but it’s not to be done in the immediate future. Where are you in CR? that makes a big difference on finding someone. Also, we are in touch with Craig at (http://www.wildnaturesolutions.com/hydro.html) he has a great unit and had a guy that used to install in CR. However, I tried to procure his services (installing) and it proved a bit much getting him from FL to CR to do the job, we left it where he was to get back to me with prices, etc. Crickets, crickets…..
Down in the south near Dominical and San Isidro is a young fellow at Fuente Verde that is into micro hydro, you may want to contact him, he seems to be representing the Power Spout. I wish I could be of more help but until we put ours in, we haven’t really pinned anything down. Do let us know who you use, if you’re in our area perhaps we could lend a hand on your project and vice versa. My sweetheart installs solar and is a helicopter mechanic by trade so the installation isn’t a problem, getting away from work in the US is why we need to get helpers. Keep in touch on this, thanks.

Bebe G.

[guru]

The very first thing to do is measure flow and head (how much drop) you have. Small high speed turbines typically need a LOT of head. 100 to 200 feet is not unusual but is common in Costa Rica depending on where you are.

If you have a lot of water (a small river) and less than 50 feet of head you need a large low speed turbine. These are not so common and are more expensive than the little high head units.

Besides the hardware and the pipe you need clean water. Leaves and other debris (banana bags) clog intakes and often need cleaning (daily by hand) and turbid streams with lots of sand will eat up small high speed turbines. To avoid this you need a pond or reservoir. If organic debris is a problem you may need an automated trash rack.

How dependable is your water? Most streams are very dependable but often flood. Frequent flooding causes more down time than drought. You need to know the historical character of your water supply.

How much power you need varies a lot as well as situations. If you need dependable off-grid power you will need batteries AND a duplicate set of hydro equipment. This stuff commonly fails just when you need it the most (bad bearings, chewed turbines, failed valves. . .). Having spares is especially true in remote areas (all of CR can be classified as remote).

I’ve been involved in designing and building small hydro systems including living with them. Do not take my statement about spares lightly. If you cannot afford to have a second complete turbine and generator setting in a box ready to install you cannot afford the system. When you install it (and you will) you will need to replace (or repair) the spare ASAP (weeks not months).

Small hydro is NOT cheap. Yes you can save on electric bills or even make a profit. But these are investments that often take a decade to break even. They are a great off-the-grid power source but you had better plan on becoming VERY familiar with the system. You may not need to know how to engineer it but you will need to know how to completely tear it down and repair it (or swap out major components based on knowledge based mechanical and electric decisions).

[DavidCMurray]

Is there a ready way to make a meaningful comparison between the hydro systems you guys are discussing and photovoltaic installations? PV isn’t cheap either, but I think I know that it’s less susceptible to the maintenance issues that you’ve described than a hydro system. Of course, PV depends on reliable sunlight exposure, but the hydro systems’ head requirements you describe can’t be too commonly available, are they?

[camby]

I like, a lot more independant thinking, less reliance on big govt/buiz….

[Author]

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