This Semester I worked on a future
micro hydro sight at my home in
Alstead, New Hampshire. We had found what was left of an old dam on
a small stream, that had sense
been overgrown and filled with sediment.
Clearing the sight back to how it once was, involved logging trees
and eventually repairing the dam.
All trees were split and stacked to dry
for our wood heating system. The main project i focused on was measuring the head and flow of the
stream, in order to size the system
properly. The highest head possible was 21.5 feet from the water
level behind the dam and flow at
just under 200 gallons a minute. Measuring the flow was more challenging as I came back a few weeks
later to find the stream not
flowing nearly as full. Keeping track of flow over the summer months will give a better idea
average potential power, but we
are looking at hopefully around a 400 watt system. Finding the components to a system along with their
prices will determine if we
continue construction over the summer.
Wyatt Fowler
