Daniel;
First where are you located ?. Your stream 120 ft ( 36 meters) and 70 - 80 gl/min = ( 4.4 to 5 liter/sec) can produce around 1 KW . You can go two ways,one using an induction motor as a generator to produce 115 or 230 volts, then where the load ( battery bank) is, you convert the AC to DC to charge the bank, also you may use the AC directly if needed. The second way is to use a Permanent Magnet Brushless 3 phase generator to produce the high voltage and then do the same voltage rectification to charge the battery bank, but it may a bit difficult to use the generated voltage directly as done above. For the first case a TURGO TURBINE attached directly to the Induction motor may be the "cheapest" way . I would suggest to contact( in United States) Joe Hartvigsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] his site is http://h-hydro.com where you could get the Turgo and technical info. For the second case you may contact ( in New Zealand) Michael Lawley [EMAIL PROTECTED] and his site is http://www.ecoinn.co.nz Even though you say that you want to go Battery Bank, still the first idea with generator direct AC usage, may it be best set up since with simple electronics both arrangements can be set on the fly without interference from one to the other -- it would be a complement of each other. With the second system the generator produces 3 phase at higher than the 50 or 60 Hertz Of course you may, as well use, a 3 phase induction motor as a generator and may bring the 3 phases to the load for best charging procedure and then use 1, 2 or 3 Phases( 50 or 60 Hertz) for direct AC usage. All cases may need a ELC (Electronic Level Controller). I can assist you in these areas. Regards Nando ----- Original Message ----- From: "danieldykim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 1:30 PM Subject: [microhydro] AC vs. DC microhydro > > > > Hello, > > I'm kind of new to this microhydro subject, but I've been trying to > learn, after finding out that our newly acquired property has a year- > round stream... any help and info on this topic would be greatly > appreciated.. > > For our stream, the approx head is 120ft, flow is probably 70-80GPM > (what we can get out of the creek). With that configuration, we're > probably looking at a 500w system... but the problem is this: > > The creek is about 800ft away from the residence. That's too far > for any DC current to travel on a reasonably-sized wire. So some > people have pointed me toward AC hydrogenerators.. To have the AC > come up from the creek, and then convert it to DC (using the > inverter/charger) at the residence to charge the batteries. (we > definitely want to go with the batteries instead of using the power > directly, since this is a weekend-high-usage situation) > > Now the questions (if any of you could even answer just one or two, > that would be very helpful in getting me up to speed with this > topic): > > 1) I heard that AC hydrogenerators need to have some way of making > consistent AC voltage / frequency.. So does that mean I need to hit > the "lowest common denominator" by tuning the generator to produce > 60Hz at the lowest flow time of the season? Would that result in > wasting power? > > 2) How does the inverter handle the AC current from the > hydrogenerator, if it's not very consistent? (like if there's lower > flow one week). Does it matter? > > 3) Is it better & simpler to just get a DC generator (which is > cheaper), convert it to AC at the creek, and then move it up to the > residence, and then convert it back to DC? Is there much power loss > during those conversions? > > 4) I'm thinking of getting a 4-nozzle pelton wheel system, but I > also heard of some other systems like "stream engine" which works > better at low flow situations. Would my stream (120 ft head, 60 gpm > flow) work well with the pelton wheel? > > Thank you very much for reading. Any help would be greatly > appreciated. > > --Daniel > > > > > > > > > > > Does your company feature in the microhydro business directory at > http://microhydropower.net/directory ? If not, please register free of > charge and be exposed to the microhydro community world wide! > > NOTE: The advertisements in this email are added by Yahoogroups who > provides us with free email group services. The microhydro-group does not > endorse products or support the advertisements in any way. > > More information on micro hydropower at http://microhydropower.net > > To unsubscribe: send empty message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers. At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EA3HyD/3MnJAA/79vVAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Does your company feature in the microhydro business directory at http://microhydropower.net/directory ? If not, please register free of charge and be exposed to the microhydro community world wide! NOTE: The advertisements in this email are added by Yahoogroups who provides us with free email group services. The microhydro-group does not endorse products or support the advertisements in any way. More information on micro hydropower at http://microhydropower.net To unsubscribe: send empty message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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