Solar Montana * Hydro Products

Hydro products

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Harris Hydroelectric
New PM Alternator (permanent magnet) Pelton Turbines

Operates efficiently on heads of 10 to 600 feet.
Operates efficiently on flows of 10 to 250 GPM.

The typical American household consumes about 12 thousand watt hours per day (not including electricity to power heating loads), or about 500 watts on average (though this can be reduced to about 300 watts or even less, though careful conservation measures and by eliminating waste). There are times, however, when as much as 10,000 watts are needed, as when a refrigerator or well pump is started. An AC system cannot store energy and must be sized to meet this peak demand, requiring up to 40 times as much water as a similarly useful D.C. system. Smaller size saves money. Micro-hydro systems are matched to the average demand and extracts power the way that nature provides it, slow and steady.

Use this chart to approximate how much power you can expect to generate from your water source.

HOW IT WORKS: The Harris system is an efficient, durable battery charging Pelton turbine. It is especially well suited to produce usable power from springs and creeks that are too small to sustain the same level of useful power from a conventional AC generating system. Water is collected upstream from the hydro and piped downstream to where the turbine is located. As a rule the greater the head, (the difference in elevation between the collection point and the turbine is called the head) the better. Because DC power can be stored in batteries, these small systems operate 24 hours a day collecting energy, a little at a time, to be delivered "on demand" from the batteries as the need dictates.

ENERGY SYSTEMS & DESIGN
STREAM ENGINE

Operates efficiently on heads as low as 4 feet.
Operates effectively on 4 to 400 gallons per minute of flow.
User selectable for 12, 24 or 48 volt operation.

The Stream Engine employs a brush-less, permanent magnet generator driven by a "Turgo" type runner. The Turgo is well suited to low head/high flow sites as compared to a "Pelton" wheel. The standard configuration uses two nozzles which are adjusted on-site to match available water supply. Four nozzle models are available to accommodate flows in excess of 400 gallons per minute. The generator loading is adjusted by raising or lowering the magnetic top plate of the alternator to peak the output. ES&D includes a digital meter to aid in fine tuning your generator for maximum efficiency!

Solar Montana

Overshot Water Wheel

Check out the hydro projects page! We build custom water wheels that can produce significant power with low head and flow. Please inquire with your specific situation, and we will respond with some answers!