Live data from Hacker News

A home microhydro plant (2009)

ludens.cl

11–20 of 94 posts

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#11
post #8
post #5

The sitemap here is quite impressive: https://ludens.cl/sitemap.htm

Indeed, and I would note that it appears to be written in plain HTML which means it will probably be both searchable (in an archive somewhere) and readable on a browser 100 years from now.

You're assuming Google won't deprecate HTML in favour of dynamic JS in the next few years.

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#12
post #11
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, and I would note that it appears to be written in plain HTML which means it will probably be both searchable (in an archive somewhere) and readable on a browser 100 years from now.

You're assuming Google won't deprecate HTML in favour of dynamic JS in the next few years.

You're assuming I care about what Google does ;)

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#13
post #3

That turned out to be a far larger operation than the “Micro” would imply!

I know that micro applied more to how much power it generated compared to a real hydro plant. But it cracked me up thinking it was going to be a small project. Tools Needed: ... 1 Pack Horse ...

Horse is optional - I think the critical item is "A Gabriel"

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#14
post #10

How much would all this cost in 2019? I'm wondering because I see many more people turn towards solar panels, or alternatively windmills. First time I see a hydro plant of this size.

I’m not sure how cost effective it is. Most people don’t have a stream they can divert to run power. I’m not sure if the legality of stream diversion for personal use in many jusristrictions, and they seemed to divert a long way.

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#15
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that micro applied more to how much power it generated compared to a real hydro plant. But it cracked me up thinking it was going to be a small project. Tools Needed: ... 1 Pack Horse ...

Horse is optional - I think the critical item is "A Gabriel"

He is a very interesting part of this whole article along with his son. The amount of physical labor involved is staggering. I've dug some trenches by hand, the longest being two feet deep for conduit, maybe 5 meters at most. Really hard work. Took me half a day. Reading through this article and seeing the amount of physical labor involved actually makes me anxious. But this guy and his son did it all. Most likely without complaint.

Though the really impressive part is the shirtless picture of Gabriel. Dude is shredded from what I assume is solely from manual labor. If true, incredibly impressive.

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#17
post #7

This is quite an interesting read, although my eyebrows shot up after reading their plan to run 1kV on each of two wires + ground, that are only insulated for 600V...even if the pvc adds some insulation (i couldn't find the actual numbers off hand), anywhere the wire comes out of the conduit, it will risk breaching the insulation, no?

There's a lot of safety margin built into standard wire insulation. I've exceeded the ratings pretty severely with no ill effects. My concern, were this my project, would be long-term wear on the insulation. 1,000 volts is gonna HURT. 480 hurts bad enough.

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#19
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Horse is optional - I think the critical item is "A Gabriel"

He is a very interesting part of this whole article along with his son. The amount of physical labor involved is staggering. I've dug some trenches by hand, the longest being two feet deep for conduit, maybe 5 meters at most. Really hard work. Took me half a day. Reading through this article and seeing the amount of physical labor involved actually makes me anxious. But this guy and his son did it all. Most likely wi…

Yeah, at first I assumed Gabriel had a digger. Then it slowly dawned that he probably didnt.

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#20
post #7

This is quite an interesting read, although my eyebrows shot up after reading their plan to run 1kV on each of two wires + ground, that are only insulated for 600V...even if the pvc adds some insulation (i couldn't find the actual numbers off hand), anywhere the wire comes out of the conduit, it will risk breaching the insulation, no?

There's a lot of safety margin built into standard wire insulation. I've exceeded the ratings pretty severely with no ill effects. My concern, were this my project, would be long-term wear on the insulation. 1,000 volts is gonna HURT. 480 hurts bad enough.

line-line potential is 2kV so the wear is worse between conductors. The only saving grace is the current is so low that the wire will see almost no heating which almost eliminates thermal stress.
Post reply on HN