While Micro Hydro power is the optimum off grid energy solution, there is one thing that screws it up, and that is Frazil Ice!
Are there ways to defeat this enemy of micro hydro systems in the Northern and Southern hemispheres? Not only small scale hydro is affected by this natural phenomenon, but larger systems are too!
First, what is Frazil Ice? From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frazil_ice Frazil ice is a collection of loose, randomly oriented ice crystals millimeter and sub-millimeter in size, with various shapes, e.g. elliptical disks, dendrites, needles and of an irregular nature.
In short, it sucks! Staying up all night scraping it from intakes, sometimes for many nights in a row, is one of the least pleasant jobs in the world. But, if you want to keep the lights on you don’t have much choice.
A basic solution is to keep the intake close to the house. Believe me, walking back and forth through the woods in the snow, every half an hour all night long will get you in shape, but let’s face it, if you live off grid you’re probably not too flabby already. But not every location makes that possible, due to elevation, drop and topography in general.