Homemade Hydropower
Hydropower is one of the oldest sources of energy. The basic principle behind hydropower is the force of falling water turning a wheel that is connected to some type of machine. Originally, hydropower was used to power grain mills, though in the late 19th and throughout the 20th century, the main purpose switched to generating electricity through large dams, like the Hoover Dam and the Three Gorges Dam. If you have a continual source of falling water, you can create a miniature power plant and use hydropower to create electricity. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Falling water source
- 2-by-4s
- Screws and screw driver
- Supercharger
- Copper tubing the same diameter as the input of the supercharger
- Alternator
- Belt
- 2 gauge wire
Instructions
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1
Build a square frame adjacent to the falling water source where the power plant will be located using the 2-by-4s and screws.
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2
Mount the supercharger on the frame so that the input is pointed directly upwards.
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3
Fit the tubing into the input of the supercharger and the other end into bottom of the elevate water source. You may need to use angled tubing to get the water to correctly flow. The fewer the bends in the tubing the better. Also, using smaller tubing with faster flowing water is more efficient than large tubing with slower flowing water.
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4
Insert tubing into the output of the supercharger and connect it to the downstream flow of water.
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5
Fit the belt onto the drive shaft of the supercharger and the alternator.
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6
Pull the alternator over towards its mounting position until the belt is very tight. Mount the alternator in place.
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7
Attach the wires to the leads of the alternator and to a user of the electricity.
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8
Open the flow of water to the system and watch the electricity be generated.
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Tips & Warnings
A cheap supercharger and alternator can often be found at a junkyard. If a natural source of falling water isn't available, a large water tank and a windmill could be used to move the water to an elevation and then it is captured using the hydropower plant. This would effectively allow you to "store" wind energy and use it when the wind is not blowing.
References
- Photo Credit old english water wheel image by green308 from Fotolia.com
