Micro Hydro Chronicles: 2024 - A TOUGH Winter!

Freezing temps, low flow in the creek, and confusing electronics, the struggle to keep the micro hydro system spinning through the winter was real!

[@jimbobarooney2861]

The bypass is a great idea

[@manvsland]

Thanks! Yea thankfully I had that foresight as it's the only reason the water in the 3" pipe doesn't freeze and I can keep running water to my place during the winter...

[@kletusbobby7029]

I agree with you, while you have low water flow, change the first nozzle size so it runs consistently on 1 nozzle while still maintaining some water overflow. In a few months when the water flow increases fit the second nozzle with the biggest size that produces the most power yet still maintains some water overflow. Ideally you might want to fit a third nozzle. The first one sized small-for low water flow. The second nozzle should be sized to increase the power output from the first nozzle, only when water is available. The third one sized large-for high water flow.

[@manvsland]

Exactly! And I just received a whole box of new nozzles I'm excited to go try out :D I'll keep you posted as to how it all turns out!

[@retrofitter]

If you put the rectifier at the power house you can reduce the power loss in the cable. If I understand correctly the rectifier only draws current from 2 phases at any one time. If you send DC over the cable you can use all 3 conductors at the same time. This will help with the minimum input voltage if the inverter. Further more if you put a filter capacitor across the line at the powerhouse it will boost the voltage higher again. Don't do this if you are near the rated current output of the turbine though as it generates more heat in the coils.

[@KevIsOffGrid]

Adjustable nozzle is what you need, they are like a screw a wedge into a cone type.

[@Roeland54]

Yes it is called a Spear Valve nozzle. You can find some videos about it on youtube.

[@KevIsOffGrid]

@@Roeland54 I was trying to think of the name, yes Spear valve is what I'm suggesting. I'd put one on the main nozzle, adjust to use 90% of the water. If fully open then open nozzle #2 and turn it down to again use 90% of the water.

[@manvsland]

Oh cool, I've never heard of a Spear Valve - I will absolutely look into that. Maybe right now! Thanks for the tip

[@physiologie_saine]

1) Thank you for your honest review on the situation, it helps more people than you might think :) 2) You may want to see if you can grap a second type of batteries, like the american NATRON with salt and prussian blue. They can handle lower temperature ! Easier to from the US hopefully, but kind of new (it may be hard to get some). Also, a BMS should be used as the active voltage range is different from Lead & Lithium batteries. 3) Keep your optimism, nothing will stop you !

[@manvsland]

Yes, a battery that could handle lower temperatures would be nice. I'm as careful as I can be with mine but right now it's hard for them not to freeze! At least I don't have to use them when they're frozen but perhaps I'll look into what you suggested. Thanks!

[@TRS-Tech]

Dont forget, even if you use a smaller nozzle and only get 250W coming in thats 250W 24/7 and i would not have thought you were a massive user. I would monitor what your actually using before you worry 🙂 I would go down a size on the main nozzle and keep the second one the same. Then you can just run one all the time and the second in the summer. You dont need to worry about the batteries getting cold as long as you dont charge them cold. Most lithium batteries of that type have a low temperature cut off. Check the manual for your batteries.

[@manvsland]

Yea, I'm slowly understanding more and more! Luckily I'm not a very large power consumer and I still think I can make it work! Thanks for the reassurance about the batteries :)

[@Mr.Engineer.]

You need to go upstream and find a secondary source you can divert into your stream :) If you build a huge dam you can store enough water during the summer to run the whole winter, but of course this is not feasible as a DIY'er :/

[@manvsland]

Wouldn't that be nice though! Believe me, I'm really racking my brain now about what to do...I did the math and if I buried a 1.5 Million Gallon water tank I'd be all set ;)

[@Mr.Engineer.]

@@manvsland Then you should start now, one shovel scoop at a time, maybe you get halfways before you die of old age 😆 You mix metric and imperial, are you a Canadian?

[@manvsland]

@@Mr.Engineer. Haha I am! Canadian...not going to start digging!!!

[@pdzh]

Have you thought about getting everything wifi connected? That way you could track it all remotely

[@manvsland]

Yea, it was actually pretty straight forward to set up! I use the SolarPower App and it seems to work quite well.

[@MrPizzaman09]

So other than working on the flow, I wonder if there is any other optimization with what you have. What's the potential power of the water (height and flow rate)? Some sort of finer adjustment on the nozzles for the low flow conditions seems like it would be worth it. Did you also have some solar attached to your system?

[@manvsland]

I don't have any solar yet. I don't get a lot of sun in the winter - hence the hydro - but if this is going to be the norm moving forward, I'll for sure have to loo into it!

[@pdzh]

What state are you in? I always wanted to build something like this.

[@manvsland]

I'm in Canada! If you have the time and energy, it's a super rewarding project with a lot of rollercoasters in it. I hope your able to try it if you want and share your experiences - I'd love to get some ideas from what other people are doing too...

[@pdzh]

@@manvsland I agree. Even if I can get 100 watt 24/7 it's already a win for me.

[@SeanDSarcasm]

Your overflow pipes are to large is what is happening

[@pdzh]

First

[@Roeland54]

it looks like your inverter is not very efficient. 150w self consumption is quite a lot. I think other inverters do much better.

[@manvsland]

I agree with you. Ultimately I should have done my own research and ordered what I thought was right for me. Instead, I explained what I wanted to someone and they ordered everything and I didn't end up with exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately, it's far too expensive to replace anything so I'm just doing the best I can with I have!