Off Grid Via Slow Moving River?

einstein writes "I live out in the middle of nowhere, and I lose power at the drop of a hat. My house is right next to the Susquehanna river, and all the kinetic energy going past my house makes just want to go off grid. Most homebuilt hydro power is lower volume/high speed. What would be a good, unobtrusive way to generate electricity from a high volume/low speed body of water? I'm between two large hydro dams, so the water level is fairly constant, but does tend to fluctuate 4-6ft in the winter due to ice floes and melting snow. I think maybe a miniature version of one of the recent submerged tidal generators might work... Does anyone have some suggestions on how I might go about this project?" More than a few people have done this before.

Safety first

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't anyone ever tell you that water and electricity don't mix? That's good enough for me.

What the ..?

[Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't everybody have there own anti-matter reactor?

Motivational Speaker?

[niko9]

You woudn't happen to wear a 50's era bifocals and live in a van down by the river?

Dear Slashdot

[Anonymous Coward]

I've noticed while wearing socks and walking on carpet, I often generate static electricity. Is there any way to harness this electricity to power my home, rather than shock me when I touch metal objects? In a related question, could I somehow generate power by rubbing balloons against my hair?

Wind Power!

[Anonymous Coward]

The basic idea behind hydro power is that you take the potential energy of water falling a vertical distance, and convert it to electrical energy. You will have trouble with that in your area. The fact that the river is slow movign tells me that the gradient in the area is very gradual, so it will be difficult to rig up a system where the water is able to travel a vertical distance. Basically you would have to build a dam to block the flow of water so it rises on one side.

I don't think tidal power would work unless the river level fluctuates daily (tidal generators produce power only during a level change).

My suggestion: forget hydro power, and build a windmill!

I was going to suggest photovotaics as well

[miracle69]

But then I saw that you were in England [srbc.net]

Have you considered gas powered generators at all? They're likely to be cheaper, easier to maintain, more powerful, and reliable.

What are your electricity needs?

Why not just....

[gleekmonkey]

Why not just use humans? Just make a computer based reality world to keep them happy, and harness the energy.

I'm surprised nobody suggested this

[unixwin]

well here goes -- move

Re:Why not just....

[ActiveSX]

No, no. Didn't you listen? You make a computer based reality to keep them miserable, not happy. Otherwise they won't believe it's real.

Getting energy from the river. Some ideas

[AtariAmarok]

Sneak out and clamp 12 to 120 volt convertors on passing motorboats, with wires going back to your house. The wires had better be long

Stand on the shore with a big shotgun, and demand that passersby pay you a toll in killowatt hours in order to pass.

Provide all the catfish with treadmills connected to generators.

Per Max Screck [imdb.com] of Batman 2, set up your own power plant and connect to the nearby hydro plants. Provide a lot of paperwork that no one reads, that includes the part that says that your power plant actually drains power from the grid instead of adding to it.

Power hot air turbines from meetings of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. [srbc.net]

If all else fails, I'm sure that the orgone writings of Reich, the magic energy fields of Tesla, or the spoonbending force of Uri Gellar will give you an answer.

Re:No, of course not

[Dasaan]

pfft, a mere toy! I use one of these [thinkgeek.com]

Re:Township Approval

[tunabomber]

You'll need township approval before even thinking of constructing something that could possibly damn or slow down the flow of water.

Crap. Better rethink my plans to build a Church of Satan on the bank of the Animas River (in my backyard). The people of Durango might not be too happy that their river has been condemned to eternal damnation, especially since "animas" is Spanish for "soul".

Re:check your regs first...

[Bryan_W]

First, Federal. The Corps of Engineers handles 404 permits.

Wouldn't it suck if he went there to get them but they couldn't be found?

Re:Stay on-grid while generating power

[richie2000]

Filters and cats at the top keep fish out.

But what happens when the cats over-eat, get fat and die?

Re:Wind Power!

[TobiasSodergren]

Here's a sketch of how to build a self-contained waterfall [fink.com].

Re:Stay on-grid while generating power

[Anonymous Coward]

Filters and cats at the top keep fish out.

I know they're meant to be smarter than dogs, but how the hell do cats know to keep the fish out? And do they work in shifts or what??

Gorillas

[AtariAmarok]

But what happens when the cats over-eat, get fat and die?

Then you get dogs to eat the cats. If these become a problem, you get gorillas to eat the dogs. The gorillas won't be a problem, because, come winter, they will freeze to death.

I don't think the cats will be a problem, however. Garfield has been over-eating and very fat for 30 or so years now, and I still see his sarcastic face in the funny papers every morning.

The cats

[AtariAmarok]

do cats know to keep the fish out? And do they work in shifts or what??

Some work in shifts. A few work in loincloths, but most wear the catsuits they were born with.

Re:Safety first

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm the poster of the parent joke, and I'd just like to indicate my offense at the characterisation of "a bit lame".

It's COMPLETELY lame.

Thank you.

Off Grid?

[Anonymous Coward]

Who are you? John Connor or something? haven't you seen the films? Going off grid is all very well, but it doesn't change the outcome, and all the trees and plants you save with your off-grid power will die in the nuclear war... sheesh!

Re:Stupid Romans

[hcetSJ]

So clearly the solution is to invade some neighboring town, taking the people as slaves to turn a giant generator for you.

Those Romans were smart people...

Re:Stupid Romans

[crackshoe]

ya know... Canada... hmmmm....

Re:High torque

[sakusha]

That's freaking brilliant. I'm sure the massive gear and belt-driven factories that were the peak technology of the Industrial Revolution were designed by engineers that constantly thought to themselves, "what a disaster, I'm wasting 20% of this FREE ENERGY."

Sheesh.

Re:Stupid Romans

[Anonymous Coward]

We're pretty lazy...I wouldn't try it.

Re:Township Approval

[matt-fu]

What ever happened to good old American rule breaking?

You mean besides the DMCA and the Patriot Act?