Hydro Electric power

[ManiacPony]

The general principle of hydroelectric power is a reliable source of water and a good head of flow, which makes it cheap but not always the most convenient source of power. What sort of power could be generated by using the power created from a bog standard traditional water wheel? Whilst the speed of the turn is not very great the power can be immense and could easily be geared up. Due to the governments targets, ISTR suppliers are obliged to take a renewable power source where available. Surely with a bit of investment, converting a run down wheel to a working source could provide a good rate of return?????

[BadBob]

I would guess that a run down wooden wheel would not be sufficient to maintain the sort of stress needed to generate the electricity. Therefore you would need to replace the wheel, also I would assume the wheel part would be the cheapest anyway so your not really saving much money. Also as far as I know hydroelectic power doesnt work using the wheel scenario as the power is not generated this way but directly on to the turbine, the pressure needed is not a simple water flow but water put into high pressure then passed over the turbine. Have a look here http://wwwga.usgs.gov/edu/hyhowworks.html

[incitatus]

of course you can do it. you just need a turning force, after all. th gear you would need, apart from a working water wheel, would be similar to that used on wind farms. So its the wind farm folk you need to talk to , or the Centre for alternative technology www.cat.org.uk

[Joanne-G]

Well after going to one of the hydro plants off Loch Awe in Scotland, they let the water fall all day driving turbines and selling the product during the day. Night time comes and they use the cheap power to pump the water up again ready for the next day......and on and on it goes, isn't government gonna realise that the wheel don't work this way, or is power to the people so much more than giving back cheap power to pump the same water used to make so much money that it is good to buy it back to make more? Just a thought and observation.....

[ManiacPony]

The basis of this system is that power stations can only provide a constant supply of energy, and it can take a week to turn a power station on! Unsurprisingly peak demand for power comes at breakfast and teatime, so the pumping up and down you mention is used to ensure the grid can meet peak demand by providing the extra energy when it is needed, and then itself uses the energy when it is otherwise going to waste. Llanberis in North Wales is another such example of this top up system.