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A home microhydro plant (2009)

ludens.cl

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Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#63

Post by dmix »

ricardobeat wrote: post #56
dmix wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author mentions solar in a later post: > Another restriction is that there is no power at this place. Bringing power here would require a 350 meter long transmission line through dense forest, or else installing a solar panel, battery and regulator. Due to the low head available between the intake dam and the forebay, a picohydro system to provide some power is hardly feasible. Solar power is quite restricted too…

I remember hearing this is a (common) misconception, and that solar panels will still be at somewhere around 50% efficiency even under heavy clouds. Maybe they weren't as efficient yet back in 2009.

That solar quote was from a follow post from 2014: https://ludens.cl/paradise/turbine/intake.html

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#64

Post by noonespecial »

dillonmckay wrote: post #23

I remember when this was originally posted, and I am still super impressed with him making his own transformers.

The varnish I used is intended for oven-drying at 140 to 150 degrees Celsius. I don't have an oven large enough to fit this coil, so I heated it by applying roughly 20A of direct current to the high voltage winding. I monitored the temperature by measuring the resistance change of the wire.

I can't even...

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#65

Post by bubblewrap »

I actually think of this article often, because I find it so depressing. Hydro power seems like a simple thing (who hasn't played with water wheels as a kid), and yet it turns out it is incredibly complicated and a lot of hard work.

There is also a book in German called "Leben auf dem Lande" (How to live in the countryside) describing how to do all sorts of things in agriculture. It cured me of any desire to live on a farm and really makes me hope badly that there won't be some sort of incident that makes me have to become a farmer or do other basic things, like building my own power plant.

Edit: of course I am also impressed by the people who built this thing in the article. It is just that it makes me realize I would be unlikely to be able to copy their feat.

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#67

Post by amelius »

bytematic wrote: post #62

Wow I am absolutely sucked into this website, I want to scroll it forever. God I'm so jealous, albeit I'm only 24, but I really want to learn how to do all this stuff and move out to somewhere far away.

The website might be packed with information, but still I find it disappointing that the author starts by describing a controller while leaving the reader totally in the dark about what its function is. Also, but this may be forgivable given the target audience, I'd prefer to read a little introduction about what a microhydro plant really is, and its principle of operation.

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#68

Post by dang »

YUMad wrote: post #30
notamerican wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

You're assuming I read what you typed.

Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to Hacker News? We're hoping for a bit better than internet default here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: A home microhydro plant (2009)

#69

Post by iamnothere »

mips_avatar wrote: post #37
BooneJS wrote: post #35

I’m quite certain that any US state’s department of natural resources would take great exception to diversion of streams.

What are the relevant US regulations on doing something like this? I know some streams are crucial ecologically. But is it mostly regulated on a national, state or local level?

As other commenters have mentioned, it's a state-level thing, but in reality most (all?) states handle permitting and enforcement at the city and county level. In many rural counties you could get away with this without a problem. Is it technically against the law? Sure. But county officials may not notice, care, or have the resources to enforce the rules depending on where you are. Many rural areas operate under a live-and-let-live approach when it comes to individual property, as long as you don't cross anyone with political pull or make a gigantic obvious mess.
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