Author: Jon Los

Let’s face it, the Law of Entropy is very real. Things don’t always go according to plan. And if you’re just sort of flailing away at things without taking the time to do it right, it will devolve into chaos. My little Stream Engine was chugging away relatively trouble free for 11 years but I…

Like I said in previous posts, I knew the potential for making electricity was flowing past my back door, but I just didn’t know how to make it happen. After cobbling a bunch of junk together, it was time to test it out. A fire hose stuck into the crick in a milk crate, running…

One of the advantages of micro-hydro is that the power just keeps on keeping on. Batteries are kept up to snuff all the time, but in the event that something, like frazil ice, stops it from spinning, suddenly the batteries mattered. In the beginning all I had were a couple old car batteries and as…

After a couple of years of enjoying/hating my cobbled together hydro, the decision was made, I needed something reliable! Fixing the thing every other day was starting to get to me and, since all I could use for a lubricant was canola oil (not good for much else!), it was time to spend a few…

I guess the big question for anyone wanting to harness a creek for power is how much will it cost. Not everyone has a big bank account and the up front costs can be a bit daunting. There’s tons of off the shelf micro hydro generators available, from cheap Chinese stuff to reliable, quality built…

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…