I have a stream running through my garden, which never stops running for at least the last 8 years, even this summer when we had a hose pipe ban it was quick flowing.

Toying with the idea of fitting a small scale hydro system, maybe to generate most of the electricity for the house or at leaset some, at night it can feed it straight back into the electricity grid so in theory “winding back the meter”

Seen figures of £20 K for fitting !! on http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Hydroelectricity

Thought more like £ 1.5K max.?

Anyone in the industry can give advice ? Cheers

don’t you need an awful lot of water/height to generate a meaningful amount of electricity?

I’d be interested to see how you get on, plenty of scope for small scale Hydro in places like the Peak District. I suspect if it was practical there’d be a bit more noise about it already?

There are also plenty of rules about disrupting the flow of an open water course.

Not in the industry and no real idea on this but I remember seeing a piece on Countryfile (I think) about a farmer who had diversified into this and was doing really well out of a number of small scale stream systems which sound similar to that which you describe. Payback is the biggie I guess.

keppoch.

Alternative Technology Australia is a good place to look for info. There’s lots of places in Oz that have absolutely no infrastructure, so the emphasis is on stuff that works rather than eco-dabbler posturing.

There was some stuff on this on the It’s Not Easy Being Green programme on the BBC. They rebuilt an old waterwheel.

This is from our website, might be useful to you:

The Environment Agency have produced two publications that will be useful for people considering a hydropower scheme, they are both available on our website.

The Good Practice Guide has been created for developers and Environment Agency staff and gives an overview of the potential issues for water resources, water quality, fisheries, flood defence, conservation and recreation.

‘Are you ready for hydropower?’ gives a brief overview of what a person considering a hydropower scheme would need to know about environmental legislation including:

our stance on hydropower
our role in hydropower schemes
information on the ‘Good Practice Guide’
a list of information the customer would need before contacting us with questions.

You can get the leaflets etc here:

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/water/32022.aspx

HTH

Shaun

Have a look at these:

http://www.navitron.org.uk

http://www.powerpal.co.uk/pposhotpwr.html

You need a lot more water than you think – flow and head together. The water wheel needs a lot less, but obviously more space to install.