Nov 29 2007

Micro Hydro Power Posted by Steve Chan in Untagged

Micro hydropower is the power created through water flow, and directed into small-scale generators for personal use. It is clean power produced by falling water in rivers, creeks, and streams. Micro hydropower is best where water supply is continuously available.

Micro hydropower mills use the exact same concept to generate energy on a much wider scale. It may very well be that Microhydropower is the next generation of renewable energy. One disadvantage of Micro hydropower is that it can only be carried a certain distance before it is unusable. Even with this disadvantage, Micro hydropower is almost always more cost-effective than any other form of renewable power. 

Most people would love to have a waterfront view, or even a brook in the yard; they are content if they can find sunshine or wind somewhere on their property. More often than not, only a privileged few have a flowing stream and a slope, which are required for micro hydropower.

It can be difficult for some to understand, however, Power is generated at a constant rate and if not used, it is stored in batteries or some other storage vessel. When it is used, power is measured in watts or kilowatts. 

After Power can is 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.  Power is then created from water pressure that is piped into the unit's jet nozzles. This is how hydropower is created.

Hydropower is a well-proven technology, relying on a non-polluting, renewable and indigenous resource, which can integrate easily with irrigation and water supply projects. 

It is important to understand that Hydro installations are extremely site-specific, and the costs will vary depending on the type and size of system and how much work you are willing to put in yourself. 

Hydropower has played a major role in making the wonders of electricity a part of everyday life and helped spur industrial development for decades. Hydropower plants provide inexpensive electricity and produce no pollution.  Hydropower is an old established method of energy production. It continues to produce over twenty four percent of the world's electricity and supply more than 1 billion people with power. 

Hydro electricity is unique in that it produces constant power twenty four hours a day.  it is a clean and efficient way to deliver hydropower to over three hundred million people in more than eight hundred countries.