High Head

Hydroelectricity

Use running water to generate electricity, whether it's a small stream or a larger river.

Small or micro hydroelectricity systems, also called hydropower systems or just hydro systems, can produce enough electricity for lighting and electrical appliances in an average home.

How do hydropower systems work?

All streams and rivers flow downhill. Before the water flows down the hill, it has potential energy because of its height. Hydro power systems convert this potential energy into kinetic energy in a turbine, which drives a generator to produce electricity. The greater the height and the more water there is flowing through the turbine, the more electricity can be generated.

The amount of electricity a system actually generates also depends on how efficiently it converts the power of the moving water into electrical power.

The benefits of hydro systems

Cut your electricity bills
A hydro system can generate 24 hours a day, often generating all the electricity you need and more.
Be paid to generate energy
If eligible, you'll get payments from theGovernment for all the electricity you generate, as well as for any surplus electricity you sell back to the grid.
Cheap heating and hot water
A hydro system may generate more electricity than you need for lighting your home and powering your electrical appliances – so you can use the excess to heat your home and your hot water too.
A cheaper option for off-grid homes
Installing a hydro system can be expensive, but in many cases it's less than the cost of getting a connection to the National Grid if you don’t already have one.
Cut your carbon footprint
Hydroelectricity is green, renewable energy and doesn't release any harmful carbon dioxide or other pollutants.

Will hydropower work for me?

Hydropower is very site specific. Most homes will not have access to a suitable resource even if they have a water course running nearby. Assessing a hydro site properly is a job for a professional. If you think you might have a suitable site the next step is to contact a certificated installer, who will have a look at your site for you.

To be suitable for electricity generation, a river needs to have a combination of

flow – how much water is flowing down the river per second
head – a difference in height over a reasonably short distance

You could have either lots of flow and not much head (such as a river flowing over a weir) or lots of head and not much flow (such as a mountain stream).
It’s also important to consider what happens to the river in summer. The minimum flow during dry periods is usually the deciding factor, no matter how impressive the river looks when it is in flood.

If there is a good hydro resource in or near your community it might be worth developing it as a community energy project, rather than as a system to supply just one home.

Off grid

Is your home connected to the National Grid? If not, hydro schemes are one of the most reliable alternatives to mains supply for isolated properties, and can sometimes be cheaper to install than a new mains connection.

Guide on How to Develope a Small Hydropower Plant

HOW DOES MICRO HYDROPOWER WORK?
Hydropower plants capture the energy of falling water to generate electricity. A turbine converts
the energy of falling water into mechanical energy. Then an alternator converts the mechanical
energy from the turbine into electrical energy. The amount of electricity a hydropower plant
produces is a combination of two factors:

1. How far the Water Falls (Head): Generally, the distance the water falls
depends on the steepness of the terrain the water is moving across, or the height of a dam the water is stored behind. The farther the water falls, the more power it has. In fact, the power of falling water is ‘directly proportional’ to the distance it falls. In other words, water falling twice as far has twice as much energy. It is important to note we are only talking about the vertical distance the water falls – the distance the water travels horizontally is consequential only in expense of the system and friction losses. Head is usually measured in ‘meter or feet’.

2. Volume of Water Falling (Flow): More water falling through the turbine will
produce more power. The amount of water available depends on the volume of water at the source. Power is also ‘directly proportional’ to river flow, or flow volume. A river with twice the amount of flowing water as another river can produce twice as much energy. Flow volume is usually measured in ‘liter per second’, or ‘l/s’.

For Micro Hydro systems, this translates into two categories of turbines:

For high head and low flow volume sites, impulse turbines are the most efficient choice.
The power produced by an impulse turbine comes entirely from the momentum of the water hitting the turbine runners. This water creates a direct push or ‘impulse’ on the blades, and thus such turbines are called ‘impulse turbines’.

For low head and high flow volume sites, a reaction turbine is the best choice. The reaction turbine, as the name implies, is turned by reactive force rather than a direct push or impulse. The turbine blades turn in reaction to the pressure of the water falling on them. Reaction turbines can operate on heads as low as 2 feet, but require much higher flow rates than an impulse turbine.

Warranty:

Claims & Return Procedures
In order to be eligible for service under this warranty, the Customer must send us pictures showing his installation of the system in a week after the installation. Professional installation is required for all water turbines.

If any problem takes place within the warranty period, Notification must be provided including a description of the alleged defect, the manner in which the wind turbine was used, the serial number, and the original purchase date in addition to the name, address, and telephone number of the party requesting warranty service.

EXCLUSIONS
This warranty does not cover the following:
Equipment which has been improperly installed or modified without approval from us
Lightning damage or other “acts of God”.
Damage to product incurred during shipping