craneplaneguy
10 kW
830 watts going into the grid, 24/7 for the next 8 or 9 months, stored by my utility as excess credit, such a deal! The new intake system I cobbled up should solve the problem I had before of trying to ensure the water exiting the culvert hitting the hydro screen(http://hydroscreen.com/products/hydro_turbine_diversion/index.html) intake box in it's sweet spot. Before, due to the season flow variations, I'd have to shuffle the box around and make sure the water didn't roar over it (high water/springtime) or dribble in front of it (low water/fall). It has a slot cut into the bottom, right over the screen, and once jammed onto the culvert and the pipe fills (surplus street pole I got for free from a crane job) the water is slightly pressurized and almost has no where to go but right where it's needed. The end cap doesn't totally close the end off, only 2/3's of it, it, and the original access hole for the street light wiring, serve to let the excess water out, but only after the tube is mostly full of water.
This is a county culvert, under a county road, and if truth be told, even though it's on my property, there is something called an "easement" of 25', so in theory I shouldn't be messing with this culvert at all. But luckily the county road and bridge guys are not too educated, to go all lawyerally on me, BUT they are also smart enough to realize that as long as I don't impinge the flow enough to cause a problem, they could care less! This will be my 10 th year of using "their" culvert, maybe I'm grandfathered in by now. Every little bit higher I keep the collection box higher, the more PSI results at the bottom, and that means more power.
This is a county culvert, under a county road, and if truth be told, even though it's on my property, there is something called an "easement" of 25', so in theory I shouldn't be messing with this culvert at all. But luckily the county road and bridge guys are not too educated, to go all lawyerally on me, BUT they are also smart enough to realize that as long as I don't impinge the flow enough to cause a problem, they could care less! This will be my 10 th year of using "their" culvert, maybe I'm grandfathered in by now. Every little bit higher I keep the collection box higher, the more PSI results at the bottom, and that means more power.