Microhydro: Home Scale Water Power Systems

Instructor: Paul Cunningham
Contact: hydropow@nbnet.nb.ca

Course Description:
Microhydro power was once the world's prominent source of mechanical power for manufacturing. While renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are being scaled up from residential to electric utility size, hydro power is being scaled down to residential size. The result is that increasing numbers of small hydro systems are being installed at homes and remote sites across North America. This microhydro course will deal with all aspects of assessing, designing and implementing battery-based water powered systems. We will work with the actual equipment and install a system at or near the site of the school. All Levels.

Recommended Readings :
"Micro-hydro Electric Systems-Simplified" by Paul Cunningham and Ian Woofenden. Home Power. Feb/Mar 2007. Issue 117. pp. 40-45. ( Copies will be provided in class- PDF downloadable from www.homepower.com).

Micro-Hydro Design Manual: A Guide to Small-Scale Water Power Schemes by Adam Harvey and Andy Brown. Intermediate Technology Development Group Publishing (2004).

Microhydro: Clean Power from Water by Scott Davis. New Society Publishers (2003).

Draft Schedule/Outline:

Day one: Introduction and overview of fundamentals of electricity, energy and power. Discussion of basic water power theory and practice.

Day Two: Discussion of system parts and design. Field trip to potential sites and discussion of how to implement systems at the local sites.

Day Three: Detailed discussion of system parts for the local sites and preliminary work on this in the field.

Day Four: Field work to implement site(s) and make them fully operational.

Day Five: Complete field work and review course topics and answer any remaining questions.