Off Grid Via Slow Moving River? 452
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.
Check out Home Power magazine (Score:5, Informative)
Township Approval (Score:5, Informative)
You'll need township approval before even thinking of constructing something that could possibly damn or slow down the flow of water.
Do Some Homework (Score:5, Informative)
Re:does this remove energy from the current? (Score:2, Informative)
Govt Regulations (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Township Approval (Score:5, Informative)
Heh. The susquehanna is the 16th largest river in the united states, not some backyard trickle. It's a navigable river and a major feeder for the chesapeake bay, which falls under federal authority as well as state and regional environmental regulations. Sticking a dam on it is something I'd probably ask a lawyer about first thing.
Maybe where you live.. (Score:3, Informative)
Common sense, fairness, and respect go a long way in the country. That's why it rules so fucking much!
I forget the name of it now.... (Score:5, Informative)
found it
http://www.salt-systems.com/marine-wind.htm
with that said, unless a stream goes entirely through your property, ie you can control both sides of the bank and build a proper dam etc, which is a ton of hassle and permits and whatnot usually, I would recommend doing the normal tried and true approach of wind/solar/fuel genny hybrid as an adjunct to your grid power. Re arrange where you put your money into first which of the first two works better for your locale. You usually want all four for true backup solution in most places. that is a generalization, but mostly true. It's really a variable, it has to be customized to your location and needs. Site survey maps exist on the web that will show mean average sun shiney hours and mean average winds for your area that will help you make a determination of which method gets priority. the reason why the "hybrid" approach is so good is that usually most places in the US get a lot of wind in the winter, but less wind but more sun in the summer. but that just depends, some places it's so windy all the time wind alone with the fuel genny backup is good, other places solar is better,etc--just depends..
me = grid, some solar, backup aero-marine wind genny, two fuel gennys
good luck! Once you get your rig up and working, you'll ask yourself "why the heck didn't I do this years ago?" It's really comforting knowing you always have SOME power no matter what, and even better to OWN it.
Re:does this remove energy from the current? (Score:5, Informative)
p.s. it wouldn't notice anyway since they just store the water in the dam and let it free fall on their turbine from there. so your plant will make the water take longer to reach downstream but it'll have just as much energy once there.
Re:Stay on-grid while generating power (Score:5, Informative)
Battery system will add a bit to the cost (but still might be worthwhile for keeping "absolutely needed" systems up (refrigerator)). But unlike solar, rivers run always. You can start without it and power your house, sending extra to the grid and making money on it.
But note that a Rolls 375AH battery will cost you $600-$700 and you'll want a few of those. Plus charging systems for them. And replacing them every 5-8 years. (tho fuel cell systems are expected to work for this use within 3-5 years).
HomePower Magazine [homepower.com] is online and in libraries and just had something (Feb? March?) on home hydro [homepower.com]. It's often used with creeks. You can also buy their entire archives on CD.
If you need pressure, but don't think your river has it, note that running water into a large pipe and getting smaller makes pressure enough to turn things.
The easiest way to handle it is with a, er, hill. Divert some of the water off through pipes, let it drop, let it hit your generator and route it back to the river. Filters and cats at the top keep fish out.
submerible generator (Score:5, Informative)
Real Goods catalog sells a generator that looks like a boat trolling motor or a minisub thruster, only with a bigger propeller. You anchor it in the river, and it uses the large volume of water flowing past it. I believe the river still needs to be moving at several feet per second, and has to be at least 2 feet deep- we're not talking mountain stream here. Needs to be a -river-.
The other way is to lay pipe along the river for quite some distance, to as low a point as possible. You need quite a bit of "head"(vertical delta) or a lot of waterflow; Real Goods' other generator system uses a turbine, with a customizable configuration of nozzles.
As for selling electricity back to the grid (aka intertie systems)- you can't always do that(ie, "sell" the electricity back), and even if you can, there are often limits on how much electricity can be generated. The power companies also get pretty pissy about people powering the grid, because if there's an outage, and a lineman goes to work on the lines he thinks are dead...well...fried lineman. Most inverters these days designed for intertie(which is what we're talking about) have safety features to prevent it from powering a grid by itself, but power companies still like to make excuses and may demand one of their engineers check out the system(at your cost of course).
Is there an elevation change involved? (Score:4, Informative)
Start with conservation (Score:5, Informative)
Check out real goods [realgoods.com] and other suppliers. Good lighting, gas-powered hot water heaters, fridges and cooking... there are lots of nice appliances that can reduce your reliance on electricity.
As for generation- keep your options open. It may not be legal for you to install a micro-hydro generator, and solar or wind might be cheaper.
My father had a book on this stuff (Score:5, Informative)
However, there would be many potential problems, especially the difficulty and cost of fixing a large overhung wheel with an asymmetric load over a river with fluctuating height (the wheel axis is going to need to rise and fall) and the regulatory problems: I guess you would need a license and it might be hard to obtain.
Another solution might be a hydraulic ram. There is the remains of one near where I live, that could raise water nearly 200ft. without an external power source, and was very simple and reliable. I guess some sort of license would be needed, but they are unobtrusive- there is nothing to see above water level but the exit pipe and the compression tank. Once the water is in a storage tank at high level, it can power a conventional turbine or an overshot wheel (more efficient than undershot), and the output can be adjusted to give fairly constant generator rpm regardless of load. Hydraulic rams can be noisy.
However, I wouldn't recommend going down either of these routes unless you are a qualified mechanical or civil (structural) engineer or both, and have good contacts in other disciplines.
The smallest hydro generator I have seen working, by the way, is at the end of the River Lyn in England. It's way bigger than you are likely to want ( I think I recall it's about 100KW) but when I was there in the early 90s it was still working. It attracts a lot of visitors from the US, and the whole place (including the water powered gravity railway) is a wonderful example of English quaintness.
Re:Stay on-grid while generating power (Score:2, Informative)
here is the link (Score:5, Informative)
check your regs first... (Score:5, Informative)
First, Federal. The Corps of Engineers handles 404 permits. You need this to discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United States - fill material includes structures as well. You might be exempt (usually if you affect under 1/10 acre you will be), but you need to make sure. If you are going to affect any Federal Endangered/Threatened species (are any in/near the river?) you will need clearance through the US Fish and Wildlife Department and or National Marine Fisheries Service. This is usually coordinated through the Section 7 process of your 404 permit, but if you DON'T qualify for a 404 permit and there are endangered species, you have to do your own Habitat Conservation Plan and prepare a document under the National Environmental Quality Act (NEPA).
Second, State. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission regulates fish movements. "No dams, ponds, or other devices which prevent free migration of fish shall be erected or placed by a person licensed to propagate and sell fish in a stream flowing over the person's property".
I am sure you also have some type of dam safety office as well, if you go that route. Also, I don't know how water rights work in your state, but you need to check into that as well. You also might have a state version of NEPA (many states do).
Third, local. Check your local Planning department for applicable rules and regs.
Re:Stay on-grid while generating power (Score:1, Informative)
Re:does this remove energy from the current? (Score:3, Informative)
Undershot waterwheels use primarily the kinetic energy of the water (the situation you depicted above).
Overshot waterwheels use mainly the difference in potential energy. This is (in essence) the technology which is used in all the big dams and you can draw a lot more energy from that. But you have all the consequences - you have to create a pond, build the dam etc.
Off Grid Living (Score:5, Informative)
I would say that solar or wind power is more feasible for most people. Solar is cheap in maintenance costs but expensive to set up, and you really need a lot of panel area to hope to supply your needs. Wind power is cheaper up front, but more maintenance is required because of moving parts, and noise from the rotors can be annoying.
Either solution will require a battery bank to store power to use when the plant is not producing, plus a good inverter to supply consistent 120v 60Hz power. If all you are looking for is protection from outages, the battery bank with a generator may be ideal from a cost/benefit perspective. The payback time of most alternative energy projects is in excess of 50 years, so think carefully before you invest.
storage (Score:5, Informative)
On the batts, the rolls are definetly good, and definetly expensive, along with the crowns. I have found cost comparing, it might be useful to check out local forklift companies and get a battery bank from them. These are deep cycle "traction" batteries in steel boxes. Whoppers, and with batts, it's the lead, the size, bigger is better more or less. You can get a 12 volt bank for around 6-800$ that will hold twice (roughly) as many amp hours as the equivalent-in-money rolls batts. Plus, if you are near any big city with the foirklift dealer, you can go get the thing yourself,(heavy, be prepared for some egyptian engineering to get them in place with levers and ramps and dollies and whatnot) usually rolls batts need to be shipped in,too, kinda spensive...
the forklift batts come 12/24/ 36 / 48 volt so you can pick your voltage requirements. Most home systems are 24 or 12 volt at the storage, depends on how far away your panels are, and how much thick expensive copper wire you want to run. You can (if you really want to) CAREFULLY cut the welded busbars on the top of the forklift batts and do your own custom series/parallel wiring as well,to get whatever voltage you want (say knocking down the 48 to a 24) but I'd recommend just sizing for your needs and purchasing appropriately.
Good luck!
"minicentrale" or floating zero-head generator (Score:5, Informative)
There is a company in britaing that specializes in this kind of generator - one application that it lends itself to is water pumping from bodies that have a deep draft and a large amount of excess flow.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/thropton
I know that these are available from other places as well, and I'd be surprised if you couldn't make something like this yourself if you have a little motivation...
DEP Regulations (Score:5, Informative)
a) Dam Permit - application fee of $1500-$3000
b) Environmental Assessment Approval - free
c) Limited Power Permit for Hydroelectric - $5 application fee and $10-10000 annual fee (depending on capacity)
Not to mention any local or federal regulations (did you check the EPA yet?) or the permits you'll need for construction, etc.
There's also a 30-day public comment period before the DEP rules, and they estimate it will take 220 days or so to complete the paperwork.
Reference is from the massive PDF found at Department of Enviromental Protection [state.pa.us]
In short, you probably don't want to build a dam.
User/pass for Home Power's site (Score:-1, Informative)
Re:High torque (Score:5, Informative)
A big wheel could run afoul of your winter time ice floes...A nice sized chunk of ice could wreck your system.
A full underwater system (i.e turbines) would look better, and would probably be safe from ice. Turbines are much more expensive though.
Re:Stay on-grid while generating power (Score:5, Informative)
The cheapest solution (Score:2, Informative)
The posters who suggest conservation are right. It's a good idea anyway. Normally, a dollar spent on conservation earns itself back way faster than a dollar spent on power generation.
If I understand correctly, your problem is that the power goes off unpredictably. The solution to this is to store energy in batteries and use an inverter to convert to AC.
If all you are running is lights, such a system is really cheap. However, if you are running something with a motor in it (like a refrigerator), there is a gotcha. To start a motor, you need three times the watts that it takes to run it.
Example: Your main load is a 500 watt refrigerator. You have a few hundred watt light bulbs. You, of course, have a computer.
1 - The minimum size of inverter is 1500 watts to start your refrigerator. These inverters are available at automotive stores for people with RVs and big rigs.
2 - Use deep cycle batteries. These are sometimes called marine batteries. Ordinary car batteries are damaged by running them down too often. The deep cycle batteries don't cost any more for the same amp-hours. Regard a hundred amp-hour battery as being able to supply a kilowatt for an hour. Unless it is really hot out, your refrigerator doesn't run all the time. One battery should run your 'frig. for a few hours.
3 - Replace the hundred watt bulbs with the new energy saving florescent bulbs with built-in ballasts. You use them the same way you use the regular bulbs. They are now cheap enough that they pay for themselves.
4 - You can buy a powerful laptop with a dead battery for cheap. Mine uses 75 watts.
5 - Don't try to hook the inverter into hour house wiring. Have a separate circuit for emergency power. You need a changeover switch so the inverter and the power company can't be hooked to the circuit at the same time. If you know somebody with an RV or a big truck get them to show you how their system works.
The whole setup should only cost a couple of hundred dollars. You won't be able to approach this cost with a generator system.
Re:Stay on-grid while generating power (Score:5, Informative)
This is incorrect. I regularly teach irrigation-related hydraulics classes to professionals in many fields, and this is one of the most common misconceptions about hydraulics. Decreasing pipe size increases velocity, not pressure. Increased velocity in pipes is usually associated with friction loss, or loss of water pressure. Water pressure is only created by the weight of water (with minimal additions from atmospheric pressure) or by mechanical means (pumps).
Increasing the velocity may be beneficial in certain situations, but in this case I would convert the low pressure, low velocity energy from the river to electricity by using gears, pulleys and other mechanical aids. The river has plenty of mass to drive a large water wheel which would, with a high reduction ratio, turn a small shaft on a generator at the speeds needed to generate electricty.
Re:does this remove energy from the current? (Score:5, Informative)
The Sun's energy was used to evaporate the water, which carried it up into the atmosphere, and then it rained down over high altitude. Water at altitude has potential energy, equal to g times the height times the mass - this is the energy that is used for hydroelectric power.
The dam uses the potential energy difference between the water at the top of the dam, and the water at a bottom of the dam. Nothing more. When water is released at the top, this potential energy turns into kinetic energy, which is used to run generators.
Where there is NOT a dam, this potential energy is used to accelerate the water (which is why rapids move fast, while dammed rivers don't!)
So as long as the guy's private energy generation doesn't sink the water level behind the large dam (pretty unlikely) he isn't taking any of the energy that the hydroelectric plant uses. He is simply slowing the flow of water in his section of the river marginally.
Finally "Where does gravity get its power?" Power is energy per second, and since gravity doesn't have any energy as such, nor does it have power. Gravity is simply a force, and by counteracting this force we can store potential energy, but that is exactly the same energy that comes back. Remember that current theory is that all matter started at the same point, so any energy that is created by objects in the universe falling towards one another is really just the return of the energy once used to pull them apart. If you are asking where the gravity get its force, well, that is a deeper question for which we would have to leave 7th grade physics.
Re:Don't forget your 60Hz and the phase! (Score:3, Informative)
Easy Method (Score:3, Informative)
Build a floating dock. Very common for people living on the river. Make it as wide as you can manage without drawing attention. Eight feet would be good. If you have a lot of river frontage, you could even build two or three docks. The velocity is low, so you need to capture a lot of mass. This is kinetic energy, proportional to the mass and the square of the velocity.
Put a paddlewheel across the downstream width of the dock, maybe five feet in diameter, with two feet submerged. Nothing high tech is required. This doesn't need the optimal vane shape of a high pressure hydroelectric turbine. I'd use a shape that sheds debris to minimize maintenance.
Use a large belt around the outer diameter of the paddlewheel to drive an automotive alternator (very large gear ratio) with an external voltage regulator. This will cost about $20 at a scrap yard. Adjust the voltage regulator to produce 14V at the batteries to null the loss in the long wires, which should be at least 10 AWG. Use a circuit breaker at the batteries and the alternator. A charge controller will prevent overcharging if the regulator fails.
Charge a parallel bank of 12 V deep cycle discharge batteries, as used in golf carts, small boats or RVs. These are available for a decent price locally. Sealed batteries are good. Low maintenance, and no worry about explosive hydrogen offgassing. Keep the batteries warm, but vented to the outside air.
Use a power inverter to create 120 VAC. You can buy one that syncs to the power grid if you you want to sell power back to the utility, but I wouldn't bother. I'd cut the cord completely. You can buy inverters on eBay. Trace makes good inverters.
An alarm should monitor battery voltage and possibly charge rate. If river debris jammed the paddlewheel, you'd want to know sooner rather than later. A true geek would have it email if there was a problem.
I'd build a big cover over the paddlewheel assembly and maybe make it look like a barbeque grill or storage locker. I wouldn't go out of my way to inquire with the authorities. Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. "Gee, I didn't know I couldn't generate my own power."
You'll be surprised by how much energy you get from a small & slow moving paddlewheel. Unlike sun or wind, water power is 24/7, so your battery bank can be a lot smaller with a hydro power system. For about $500 initially and battery replacements and alternator brushes every few years, you can be off the grid. Most of us don't have a river and need to use solar.
Re:Stay on-grid while generating power (Score:3, Informative)
Ownership isn't the issue. Kinda like it is criminal to drain wetlands, even if you own the property.
Verdant Power Turbines (Score:5, Informative)
In the east channel of the East River, next to Roosevelt Island and in the shadow of the largest power plant in NY State, Verdant Power [verdantpower.com] has been deploying a small farm of low speed turbines to tap the force of the tidal stream that flows back and forth in the channel.
In the scale you're interested in, a ten foot turbine can power 25 homes.
There is an article about it at the Roosevelt Island Wire website [nyc10044.com].
Check out the Rainbow Power Company (Score:1, Informative)
While it may not be practical to buy from them, they may be able to offer pointers to someone more local or suggestions as to what you can practically do.
What I would try (Score:2, Informative)
I was researching renewable energy quite a bit a few years back. I can't recall the site that I saw that had a lot of these, but they sound quite useful. they're basically alternators stuck in a prop, you put two decent sized rocks in the water to create sort of a jet of water (like when you use your thumb on a water hose), then put one of these in that.
here's one [backwoodssolar.com]
Jackrabbit submersable generator. (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.realgoods.com/renew/shop/product.cfm?dp =1200&sd=1201&ts=1017104
They sell a product called the Jackrabbit. Orginally it was used for oil survey sleds that were towed. This way you could mount them without having to build anything elaborate to change the water flow. This should work nicely for what you are wanting.
Re:Do Some Homework (Score:3, Informative)
Re:yes, but investigate 'net metering' (Score:3, Informative)
Looking at my own electric bill, it divides almost perfectly in half, with 50% going to electric "supply", and 50% going to "distribution". So, even if they paid me the same rate they charge me, it would seem that, no matter how much I produce, I could at best break even (since presumeably I would make the money on supply, but still have to pay almost the same rate for distribution).
I remember reading somewhere, although I don't remember where (fuzzy memory, this), that they're required to credit you 1 kwH for each 1kwH you generate, and buy any surplus you generate. So, you get a straight 1:1 credit for your use, and then the surplus is free money at whatever rate it is. Recall that the purpose of the law is to provide a way for people to provide their own electricity without letting the power companies (notoriously anti-competitive) screw you out of doing so. Promoting a distributed power infrastructure is good. ;)
Re:Stay on-grid while generating power (Score:4, Informative)
You would have an easier time drawing off the water with a couple 3" pipes.
If I can take a couple gallons/second and drop it out a 4 inch pipe, it might not be able to turn a small turbine/generator. Coming out of a 1" pipe, FASTER, it will be easier. When I hosed down my brother by putting my thumb over the hose end, he didn't care if the water had more pressure or was faster. It was 45PSI either way, I suppose.
I friend of my Mom's restored and old mill and, since he owned the property on both sides of the creek, and since it was a mill before, the town gov't people were actually pretty delighted for him to restore the "large water wheel" that had been there. It provides a fair amount of both mechanical and electrical power for his work - it turns lathes and he demonstrated grinding wheat (though how much wheat we need to grind in Western Ma is sort of in question, but he was playing with the "wiring" - mainly leather straps and gears.
In the microHydro world, you can make power from a small creek. Using a large river and not doing environmental impact reports and living in bureaucracy would suggest water driving a turbine to make power come out.
The ORIGINAL poster didn't say anything about where s/he lives on his river - if they get 2' of ice or just a gentle glazing on top. He's take different actions in winter based on that.
But there are pro's and resources s/he can can use to negotiate the mazes that are unfamiliar to most of us.
It probably isn't legal. (Score:4, Informative)
LOL, it might help if you had some idea what you were talking about. The Sesquehanna is a navigable waterway, and 33 USC 403 [cornell.edu] seems to be of the opinion that you need the permission of the federal government to construct anything, such as the poster's waterwheel, which would obstruct that waterway.
Look to Marine Technologies (Score:5, Informative)
I don't know what the average flow of the Susquehanna is but I doubt it's really a slow river. I do know the Mississippi is typically moving about 4 knots and it is considered by boatmen to be an absolute bear to travel upstream. Recreational boating in the main Mississippi channel is near zero because the current's just too strong. I'm betting your river is faster.
A sailboat (monohull recreational boat big enough to have a galley) is making fair time if he averages six knots. Six knots is enough to generate a helluva lot of electricity using a water generator (they call them "spinners" and some of them will convert to wind generators if you get the urge). These things are not even that expensive.
Contrary to some of the alarmist nonsense being posted here, as long as you are not messing around in a wetland (swampy, boggy marshy place) and you don't propose to do any dredging, the Corps of Engineers presumes that all docks and piers for small boats will be approved for riparian use on ALL navigable waterways as long as you don't interfere with navigation. Possibly you have stronger local regulations, but get your COE permit and I think everything else will fall into place pretty easily. Sink a couple pilings, hang the spinners deep enough to keep from freezing and I expect you're in business.
Re:Stay on-grid while generating power (Score:3, Informative)
Depending on where you live, you can use several different (passive) methods for keeping your house warm or cool.
Methods
--------
trees - get them big enough to shade your house, you'd be surprised at the temperature difference.
if you can't get trees, have ivy grow on the walls, this will drop the temperature also by preventing sunlight from hitting the walls.
windows - use transom windows to create an airflow thru the house near the ceiling. in hot months, this gets rid of hot air by the ceiling. it also helps evaporate moisture off your skin which creates a cooling effect.
walls - _HEAVILY_ insulate your walls. I've ssen some houses with walls 2-3 ft thick, made out of either straw bales, poured concrete inside cinder blocks, or rammed earth. the insulation is so good, you'll barely touch your heating OR cooling equipment.
roof - if you put solar panels on the roof and mount them at least 4-6" off the roof shingles, you not only generate electricity, you prevent the sunlight from hitting the roof and thereby warming up the attic. also, put one of those cutouts along the roof peak to help draw off hot air. this place (http://www.scienceonline.co.uk/science_now/green
you can also try a metal roof as this will actually reflect a lot of the solar gain rather than letting it soak in. an added bonus is that it will last at least 50 years compared to 25 yr shingles (less replacement cost).
all these methods will help you in saving electricity, not generating it.
for generating power, look to wind, water, and sun. you will have to evaluate where you live to see what is best.
I looked into wind power a few years ago and they have some _very_ efficient systems for generating power, and they are relatively inexpensive (less than $2000).
with water systems you will need some kind of current to move those waterwheels constantly. however, you will have to find a way to step up/down the speed of the current generating axles to match the needed speed for generating electricity and storing it in the batteries.
solar power has always been expensive. until they find a way to cut the manufacturing costs for the solar panels, it's too pricy for me compared to the other methods.
btw, no matter what system you choose, you WILL have to have batteries to store power. that is one cost you will not be able to avoid.
Good luck!
Re:Township Approval (Score:1, Informative)
He then discovered that no such permits were being granted, due to "possible" enviromental impact of such constructions. (for two feet of concrete brick keeping his lawn from washing into the lake?)
Being the cussed sort, he proceeded with the project any way (partially to spite the official who told him to "go get a permit" when he knew darn well that no such permits were even being considered.)
Charges were dropped the week before he was due in court, when he got a supena issued to a high official in the same environmental agency who ALSO has a lake home, which ALSO has a retaining wall, in order to explain "how it is that your wall is legal and my client's is not"
In short: go with the dock/floating idea: something that you can remove (even if only temporarily) in order to assuage the feelings of a petty bureaucrat.
Legalities of the Susquehanna (Score:4, Informative)
You're not in the middle of nowhere... (Score:4, Informative)
You're in either Pennsylvania or New York. And you're on a river that has been actively dammed and controlled for over two hundred years. Which means that your property either has deeded mill rights, or it doesn't. And if it doesn't, you have no legal right to divert the water in the river to power a generator. Which is to say, attempting to divert river flow to generate electricity could get you in a world of trouble.
What about in-river systems?
Good question--and I'm sure that your state environmental agency will tell you. And I'd bet money their first answer will be "no." Bureaucrats are bureaucrats--and anything that is likely to cause them additional work is almost certain to be turned down.
This doesn't mean you're dead
What you can do to help grease the skids with your state authorities is to contact your local state legislator. If you're in Pennsylvania you'll find that a lot of legislators are extremely interested in "constituent service." Call the legislator's district office, and explain where you live (make sure you live in that legislator's district) and what you're trying to do. You want to know if the state has any information on the subject, and how you can go about finding out. You will be talking to an intern--a breathless, endlessly enthusiastic young person who is just itching to find answers. You may find it astonishing how quickly you will get answers--and since the question came from Rep. Stuffedshirt's office, the answer is far more likely to be "yes."
Visit the county courthouse
If your property at the river's edge shows any kind of swale or evidence of an old channel, go to your county courthouse and ask for the Recorder of Deeds office. Ask for help in searching for mill rights--and whether or not your property ever had mill rights assigned, or was subdivided from property that had mill rights. If the answer is yes, you should ask your county bar association for a referral to an attorney with experience in real estate law--what you're looking to do is assert that you want to take advantage of mill rights that were deeded with the property years ago.
On the off chance that mill rights were awarded to your property years ago, you may be able to do this. In the more likely event that you do not already have mill rights, you'll have to do some design work, get a registered professional civil engineer, and go through a planning process that will include the state environment regulators, the utility company that owns the hydro dam downstream (most likely PP&L), and probably the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And unless you have a very long stretch of shoreline, you'll have to get permission from your neighbors to dig a mill race upstream, and a tail race downstream. (This, of course, means that you'll be providing them with free electricity too.)
But what about a floating generator in midstream?
If you're in Pennsylvania, good luck. The Susquehanna is full of boaters and fishermen, and the state is going to regulate you to death with concerns about who might hit it, how you'll secure it during the winter, and whether you have adequate insurance coverage for any possible liability.
In short--I think you'll find that the licensing, permitting, and assorted legal folderol will make the project economically infeasible.