Hydroelectric Coming to an Off-grid Home that's Nowhere Near You

Don't throw out that old transit! We've got a hydro project.

This photo is worth enlarging just to see the etching. You can't buy one like this at Lowes!

Dave making sure that the penstock for the hydro turbine will convey water down hill. Mickey wanted to get the survey work done before the trees leafed out which made good sense as the rhododendron made measurements tricky enough.

Mickey and Jenny built this beautiful off-gird home and have used solar and a gasoline generator to power it since the 1970's . If you look closely at their PV array you will see a mixture of older and newer PV modules (I think there are some old Arco brand modules amongst the bunch.). Their hope is to use the hydro potential of the small stream behind their house to minimize the amount of generator run time during the winter months.