Hi all,
Are you all well? Hope so.
I am posting my questions and queries here as I am hoping to find fellow renewable energy enthusiast who will be able to help or at least point me in the right direction.
I'll cut to the chase but if anyone wants to read the rest and help I would be exceptionally grateful.
I am looking for someone in the UK (or elsewhere I guess) who has had experience in installing a pico-hydro set up. I need help on choosing the right type of turbine and how to wire it into my existing battery-storage system without frying it or anyone who happened to be standing nearby!
Here is some more detail.......
I have an existing off-grid solar system, with battery storage and capacity of about 11.98 amp hours @48v. It serves me really well as I don't use very much on a daily basis, but there is a generator as backup when the sun doesn't shine. I am completely stand alone and there is no scope for feeding any energy back to the grid as I am very remote (and nor would I consider it).
All is well here then...
However, I am fortunate enough to have access to a large head of water, a suitable drop of about (as it stands) 25m and a flow rate (when it isn't raining) of about 20l/ps, I have had a couple of engineers from a commercial-scale, local project tell me there is a lot of merit of installing a turbine as, if done properly, I would get anywhere from 500w to 2.5Kw from the flow.
(A point to note is that all of the above is on my land and my installation wouldn't have any impact on any other local water ways, so I don't want to get hung up on any legalities or permission things).
I am desperate to find someone who can help me on this. I am no electrical engineer but from my own knowledge, research, input from others I am certain there is merit in doing this - I think it would be a travesty not to try and exploit it as much as I can. I may only use around 700l of diesel a year for the generator, but if I can halve that then from an environment POV, I personally think it is worth it.
Finally, I am not looking to do this on a shoestring budget. Before I bought this place last year I factored in spending some money on the hydro. Therefore for the right help I am willing to recompense someone appropriately.
I am optimistic that one of the other 7.4bn of us on this planet someone can help me see this through. If anyone wants more info on the existing Victron stuff that is already in please I can let you know.
Thank you. Paul
