When we think of “Off-Grid”, we think of life without convenience. And for some that is true, it isn’t an easy life without electricity. Candles, kerosene lamps and propane lamps will give us light, but not much else.
Of course there’s solar and wind, but let’s face it, the sun doesn’t shine all the time and the wind is far from predictable. And unfortunately, not everyone has a creek flowing through their yard. But for those who do, Micro-Hydro is definitely worth a look!
From a simple, cobbled together system made from junk to professionally built systems that can easily run into many thousands of dollars, there absolutely is power to be made from flowing water. I’ve been there and done that, and I want to share my knowledge and experience with any and all who are interested.
I will state upfront: I am not an expert. As a matter of fact, I literally learned micro-hydro from the creek up! I started with junk I found at the local dump, using an old exercise bike, a wooden wire spool and a car alternator and batteries and a cheap Canadian Tire inverter. I made lots of mistakes along the way! For instance, I learned that you can’t get more power out of it than you put in! (Think inertia and torque) But after a long series of trials and errors, it worked!
Unfortunately, it wasn’t very efficient. It was always needing repairs and maintenance, usually taking up all of my time off, only to be broken down when I’d get home from the road. Rinse, repeat… So I bit the bullet and bought a professionally built system, after all I had become used to having electricity in my off-grid shack in the deep woods. Yep, it wasn’t cheap, but with zero chance of ever having power poles run to my place, there wasn’t much choice. And since the wind almost never blows there, and that I live on the north face of a mountain that gets no sun during the winter, the decision was made for me.
All in, it cost me about $20,000 CDN, a lot of digging and grunt work and lots of time. I didn’t have the luxury of having machinery like a backhoe or an excavator, but I did have brute force and ignorance! And a strong back and determination.
Follow me as I take you all on my journey from darkness to light!