Alternate Power System Water Wheel, Wind Mill, Solar Pannel
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Here is my hobby alternate power system mostly for fun but it is useful if the power is off. I suppose it saves me a few bucks a month but I still give the power company about $80 a month. I guess I am fascinated with power generation.
The pond never freezes but the waterwheel will build up ice because of the water splattering. There are times during the year that I will have to shut it down because of ice build up. If that happens this year I will put up a video of it. Thanks for watching.
What's your maintenance schedule? How often do you check everything? Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly? Is that all on your checklist? I admire that you attempted to use all electro-mechanical devices for reliability/longevity. You are living the dream that I have - to one day have a home which has a multi-faceted approach to home power generation. I like that you consider it a hobby, yet it could easily be modified to become more than that, if the need arises. If you could make upgrades, what would be your first focus? Batteries? It would be fun to create a hydro-battery system with a tank on the hill and a regenerative pump system as that would give you a certain amount of backup power to have on hand - just in case. One more facet or layer to your onion approach of home power generation. All in all, well done. Well done.
Impressive! Thanks for sharing.
This is awesome! I'd love to set up something like this. Which issue of Popular Mechanics? This is really awesome. I'm going to have to look for the issue. Was this an old issue or a recent one? This is pretty amazing!
I'm wondering if there isn't a way yo increase your electricity coming from the wheel?
An old school wind mill would be a fun project to generate electricity (& perhaps a real working mill) would be great too!
Nice work!
@@CarolReidCA Old issue 1946 I think. I can't find mine so not positive. Check out some of my latest videos you will see some improvements in output. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Thank you so much for the insight. Maybe this might work for the freezing problem. ua-cam.com/video/uxPdPpi5W4o/v-deo.html 👍
Well, we know 1 guy's ready for when the grid goes down.
Yeah....not really. He doesn't even produce enough power to keep a refrigerator powered. Then again, he did say he had a generator, and he could probably run for a bit off the battery.
I think he would need a small home nuclear plant for that :)
1980s solar panels... tracker, Edison batteries, water and wind power... the all in one diy coolest system I have ever seen.
Instablaster
Sir you certainly have a beautiful place...Peaceful, idyllic, beautiful view! You can take a lot of pride in your accomplishments!
I could sit there all day looking at your view and that water wheel!
Well I would say " Should be honored to have such a place", as pride blinds us to correction and is the seed from which all that is evil grows. which ever way you respond to my comment will prove what i said here.
@@justintothetruth get over yourself.. this is UA-cam !
@@88njtrigg88 obviously that message was not for you. You have no idea how over myself I am.
Lots of impressive ingenuity going on there! Nicely done all around!
This is just more inspiration to find some land with a decent creek on it to do one of these when I retire. Great video!
i always wanted to set up a water ram pump on a creek never had a creek that flowed all the time
i was thinking the exact same thing
@Leonel Ray totally random, and useful info all the same 🤔🤣
@@TheNinja691 no its a scam
Wow! This video gets more and more impressive as it goes on. Beautiful location you're in there too. Thanks.
"Heya I guess that's about it? " Kevin are you kidding me? You have worked out a complete and functional system. It's really a fantastic set up and I mean that, your control panel is wired nice and clean. Every part coming in and going out is identifiable and put together with thought. And tapping 3 different supplies of energy I'm surprised the power company is not paying you every month. Let me repeat a couple of things that people have told me, maybe they will be useful to you.
1. We have big windmills here in California, a few have been wrecks (neglect is my guess) and given them all a bad wrap. Vertical units are the big craze now, suppose to be safer and produce better.
2. In your wheel house if you set up the 42" wheel with the 2nd belt turning an 8" pulley, turning a 30" pulley, that turns a 4" pulley mounted center shaft. You would have high speed rotation that would run 2 washing machine motors that have been converted. The man that showed me this said 5 years problem free, I want to say 2400 or 2700 rpm. You'll want to double check the numbers, I think their right but it's been a while and I don't want to mess you up.
Anyway it's all 2nd hand but hope it helps.
Have to do something after having a life of designing, assembling, operating and maintaining nuclear, coal and hydro power plants. You did/do a FINE job! Thanks for the tour and the rock maple bearings are SWEET! GBWYou!
Each component is pretty simple. But the overall care with which your system has come together is impressive. Then, when you show us your wiring closet, and I see how carefully all of the controllers and everything are wired, it all comes together.
Huge respect, sir. Your hard work has accomplished quite a lot.
Thanks
The water wheel house is so cute with its vintage style and the peacefull rythme it operates. Not only it's usefull but it add a lot of charm to the view. I have seen a lot of turbine houses and, mein Got, it's so loud and turbulent it always ruins the scenery.
And the idea to use an antenna tracker for solar tracking is realy great too.
Also the teenage sign up there is very appropriate even if it's not at the best place to be seen by the intended audience I am afraid.
I never would have thought wood could be used as aa bearing surface.
Same, but then I remembered that before the industrial revolution, it was wood.
It also was and sometimes is still used as a seal on prop shafts. Water acted as a lube to prevent wear. It wasn't Rock Maple though, it was Lignum Vitae.
Lignum vitae ('pokhout') has been used for centuries for all sorts of mechanical applications. It's not only very tough, it's also self-lubricating.
www.wood-database.com/lignum-vitae/ - "Unfortunately, Lignum Vitae has been exploited to the brink of extinction, and is now an endangered species. Verawood-a related wood species with similar working properties and characteristics-is commonly used as a substitute, and is sometimes called Argentine Lignum Vitae."
www.wood-database.com/verawood/
@@samvalentine3206 Very true for the species that was the best. But there are a few others that are still available.
If only my power bill were $80. More like $300 a month here in Florida. None of the Florida builders seem to understand the physics and concepts of insulation. smh
I live in Florida and mine is 85 a month. I’m on well, septic, converted house to propane water heater, dryer, and oven. I also installed zoned mini splits, and converted the whole house to led. 85 is the combined propane and electric.
I had 8.7 kWh of solar panels fitted in 11th Dec 2020 since then in winter sun in the uk I have gone from £170 per month down to £26 per month which is my gas bill.
I also get a feed in tariff and have had a further £80 back off the electricity company which means the solar will have paid for itself in under 5 years
Like your message to teenagers, Kevin!
“Get out and go find yourself a job!” 👍
add some UV lights, under guards so you don't damage anyone's eyes, and you can keep the algae/growth off all those parts. Lots of pond filter systems do that for the barrel roller microscreens to keep them from clogging up due to growth.
That's an excellent idea. Self-cleaning sluice and water wheel...
This is my first look at your site. Hey, thanks for showing us around, I'm retired now from an electronics field in the Uk. If I drove past your house I would have been curious to know more but of course, haha, wouldn't have knocked your door, just drove on past
you are an inspiration to us all, thanks Kevin
Hi Kevin.
You have a great set-up. I have not watched all your videos yet, but your timers on the solar array struck a chord in me.
A few years back I was instructing PLC's and other Industrial Electronics courses. They threw me a little curve by giving me a Green Energy Basics course that someone had written up but had never taught apparently. The students and I whizzed through the course as laid out and we had some slack time. So, I introduced these electronics students (Not industrial electronics) to the PLC. We had a lot of fun learning basic PLC's. Then I challenged them: I told them that I had a solar panel array on a Rotating Device similar to yours. I wanted them to design a device that would keep the main array always pointing at the sun no matter in which direction it was at. As part of the elements I had purchased for the class, I obtained a dozen solar powered walk lights that you just shove into the ground and they light up at night. After brain-storming the project, the devices available and using the plc, they came up with the idea of using two small solar panels (I will call these the Solar Sensors) from the lights (about 2 inches by 2 inches) as sun tracking sensors. As they moved a flashlight in an arc aimed at the solar sensor from left to right and back again, they were able to detect a difference in output from the solar cell. When the light was straight on it had the highest output and it went down as they moved right or left. They then mounted the two solar sensors on the edges of the actual solar array. By mounting the sensors at a slight inward angle, they found that they always had a slight signal difference between the two sensors unless the "sun" or flashlight was aimed directly at the Solar Array, which meant it was at a slight angle to each Solar Sensor. If the sun moved to the right, the left Solar Sensor would have a greater output and the right would be lower. By feeding this into a comparator function on the PLC 1000 (cost about $150 on e-bay), an output either plus or minus would power a DC motor that turned the Solar Array/Solar Sensors slightly towards the direction that equalized the output of the two sensors. It took them awhile to figure how to program the comparator function and the output needed for the DC motor. It was so much fun for them that a few stayed several hours after class each day to get it right. But they finally got it with some prompting, and it worked like a champ when we tested it on a sunny day. They all received an A for the class because of the interest and the effort they put into this "final" project.
I am looking forward to the rest of your videos - thank you very much for them.
Nice setup u have there. When I grow up I'll have those too
i really liked your video, however i recommend a deadcat for your microphone.
A lot of time went into that system. I'm surprised to see connections on the pannels exposed to the weather though. They are stealing amps from the corrosion. Do your self a favor and cover them.
You must have one hell of a mower. That's a lot of grass.
Throw a small bale of barley straw into your pond, It should kill the algae ;) nice work Sir. The waterwheel sound reminds me of a steam train :)
Didn't know that about barley straw's algae killing tendencies. That's what I love about this place - one can learn more from the comments and posts of others as they chime in to help. Thanks for that tidbit of info which no doubt will help someone - only if they look! 👍
Your water weel uses too little delta hight. So the poweroutput of 50 W is quite little. If you would use a long wide pipe as far down the hill as possible, you could maximize delta hight and use a micro pelleton turbine, which is also more efficieant. I guess you may get 500 W or more. Try to maximize delta hight.
You, sir are a genius, and it would be true pleasure to work with you. I could learn so very much. Nice job, and your home is beautiful!
Beautiful!..man when you talk about someday owning that little piece of heaven...I need look no further. Thank you for sharing this video.
Awesome setup, great information. Love any water powered stuff, even at low outputs it's usually a constant output. Wind and solar too ... So jealous. I'm a electrician, did some school for wind turbine tech, have done about a dozen solar installs at work. Solar stuff on the roof matched the grids waveform for grid tie.
Really cool place and wheel. great video. Who the hell are the 70 people that gave it a thumbs down ? What kind of d bag would do such a thing?
Absolutely fascinating Kevin, alternative power has always been an interest of mine, would love to have a water supply for a waterwheel, currently setting up solar panels on my garage roof for power, regards Doc Cox.
Maybe not THE best setup I have seen but I like it. If I ever get a chance to own some land I plan to go completely offgrid and using the 3 main natural sources of energy is a great way to go.
However I feel like you are waisting a lot of potential. Production does not seem to be as high as it could be.
The waterwheel I personaly would go for a different type of water generator but as far as wheels go, you might want to increase the RPM to the gen and perhaps see if you can find a more efficient gen.
The solar pannels, you have so much land and roof realestate that I feel a larger setup would be a better fit. If you want tracking I would build a arduino based tracker so you do not need to worry about timing.
As to the wind power, I would dump the one on the roof and put a much larger one on the tower. Not saying go 10 times larger as that gives you other issues, but 3 or 4 times should be easy to do.
No negative intentions, only constructive critisism.
With a bit of work and investment I feel you can scrap the remaining power bill completely and even make some money. I would trade with you in a instant. You wouldn't want to trade for a small rental appartment in the flat flat flat Netherlands would you?
Anyways keep up the good work!
Love the sign! TEENAGERS
TIRED OF BEING
HARASSED BY YOUR
PARENTS?
ACT NOW!!
MOVE OUT, GET A JOB,
PAY YOUR OWN WAY,
WHILE YOU STILL KNOW
EVERYTHING!!
Absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing this.
I believe every house hold can make a little power that people don't have to be totally dependent on power companies and then possibly we don't have to worry about power outages.🤔😉
Greetings from New Zealand, well done and keep up the great work !!
And you can set that up to make more power. Jest by running a few more wheels to convert the slow speed of the biggest wheel and step it to a haf foot smaller wheel to another at haft and it will spin faster the smaller the wheels get
This was my thought as well. That wheel is spectacular and could probably do 10x the power easily
The energy of a water fall limited by the head and flow rate.
At about 2 meters and 4 kg of water a second (about a gal a second), the maximum power is 4x2x9.8, which is 80 watts. He's generating about 50.
Energy isn't created with gearing, it just changes force and speed. You sacrifice one or the other to benefit it's counterpart. In the end the multiply together to the same amount of energy. He also increased the windings in the generator to increase the power captured at the slower RPM.
I have been thinking of making an Archimedes screw with some clear tubing wrapped around a long drum. I know its a pump, but it should work in reverse as a generator.
I thought that screw gears couldn't be turned backwards? I guess it would be different with water rather than gears delivering the force, but I'm not sure.
@@trulyinfamous I think initially misread your response. I was thinking you are referring to gears. Sorry if youv read my response and started banging your head on the wall. I made some edits. The concept should work in reverse as the weight of the water should drive the screw. Hot wheels made some tracks that did this with the weight of the cars causing the whole track to rotate. It works if the system is low friction. Water doesn't have sliding friction in the track, so it doesn't bind up. Hot wheels cars are low enough that it works.
that sir is why i always try to talk to our older generation about anything the ole guy told you what to make the blocks and why they work copared towhat you where doing, wood make enough friction to make grease flow or move about the steel bearings were so smooth made no friction to distribute grease love my old timers
15:45 the type of solar you described is called concentrated solar. It is not common in use today, as the prices of PVs have decreased so much. They're still in use in places like North Africa, but are losing popularity since they arent as effective as just using the space for 100% PV.
Nice wooden pillow blocks.
in a factory I where I worked at one time we had a machine that had slide rails for a conveyor and they were made of steel and they wore out all the time so we replaced them with uhmw that's ultra high molecular polyethylene and with a drop oil on there and they never wore out.
Thanks for the tour. Your setup is very impressive, I would love to have a waterwheel. Will you go Lithium when your batteries start to fail? We have a small system at our cabin and have had good luck with a salvaged pack from a chevy volt. If you time we have a video on our channel showing the build. Take care.
Edison Nickel Iron batteries last for Decades! His grandkids will be using them!
I literally drove past your place 50 times over the winter. One of our logging crews is working up the hill from you. I've been so curious about your setup. Thanks for the video.
haha that's awesome!
You have a really nice setup, hope you get a lot of view and subscribers so you can monetized your channel so you can get some money for your setup and all the effort you put in these systems. Really nice hobby. I just subscribed and I will share your video with my friends. Keep it up!
I appreciate it! Thanks for watching.
💚💚💚💚 bookmark/notes: 02:40 🛹 🧱 …..Degree ///// 🛹 splash ….. 23:21 blow on baby belly ( box talk baby wallk)…..ect….tbc…..-g-b, bot
very nice construction many thanks for sharing wooden bearing blocks seems to be the right choice and unlike metal you can make a set in advance hang them on the wall of the gen shed with the appropriate tool set and what when they fail its a 10 minute job to swap out the old for new.
Really like that waterwheel setup.
Great video brother thank you for sharing i have a 8 foot drop in my creek it is time to dig a mill pond
You can just get a commercially available micro-hydro turbine ready made. I understand they work with as little as a 24" head, you should be set.
@@KelikakuCoutin thank you i will look into it
Impressive sir... Might I inquire as to how many total watts those inverters are ratted? I see one is 300 and that's it... I can't imagine you run your whole house off this.
One is 300 the other is 500. No I don't run my house off of these. It is just a hobby for me and is handy if the power goes out. Thanks for watching.
Beautiful even if due to the small diameter and little water alone 45W
Thanks for sharing Kevin. I really appreciate the detail you go into for each component of your energy generation system.
This is fascinating. Thanks for sharing!
These are some of the best ideas I’ve seen and a lot more that I thought of but I like what you can do just takes a little money to get all the stuff you need right location for starters
Very simple and impressive instillation. Well done. Enjoy your place and you electric water mill.
Using formed plastic with steel wear bands on the leading edge for the wheel buckets is nicely done.
Needs some cleaning and what happens when you're on vacation? Who maintains it in case of heavy rains. So it doesn't over top the dam
And yes. Your microphone sucks in the wind
Why did the water wheel start turning before you even touched the wheel to open the gate?
Perhaps the gate valve didn't totally stop the flow of water and finally the weight of the water in the few chambers of the water wheel were enough to get it to start rotating?
I saw that as well. It has me wondering....
Lots of scrolling through the comments and finally I found someone who had asked the question that was nagging me. Yet still no reply? Mmmm...
kevin qui c'è roba del tuo bis nonno, strumenti molto antichi, dichiaro il tuo impianto patrimonio dell'umescu
bello, bello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I searched for too long to find this vid again.awssome set up!
A very productive hobby. The best type of hobbies are productive ones.
absolutely blown away by your setup. You're so humble about such a clean, safe, well managed setup. all self done which really shows your large skill set. Thank you for taking the time to share your work with us.
I'd like to see the saw you cut that 1/4 plate with! Great vid, inspirational stuff, thanks Kevin.
fantastic setup
Absolutely amazing Kevin! What a great hobby and some skills can do.
Never seen anything like this before, even not on UA-cam😉 Thank you for sharing this 💧 ☀🌦 ⚡👌
wonderfull setup
always wanted to do something similar like this, maybe always run my lights off a windmill or something, but it gets a little pricey when you go into getting the stuff, it would also be a bit of a pain to rewire the panel to isolate the circuits. but i never stop toying with the idea of it
You've had WAY too much fun with all this, but at least your wife knows where to find you. Your control panel looks much cleaner than what I had expected from the hardware outdoors. There are some really simple solar panel sun-trackers that use 2 photocells with a paddle between them. When the paddle is not pointing directly at the sun, a shadow is cast on one of the photocells and the difference can be used to trigger your motor relay. Of course, if the timer setup you have now ain't broke, it doesn't need fixing! Thanks for sharing your fun. I loved seeing all this. How many years have you been playing? Looks like 30!
Lingnumvital hard wood works great for pillow blocks. they use them on submarines for billow blocks, years ago.
Tried to look up that wood but couldn't find any information on it.
I think the common name is Ironwood.
nice, about what I have planned for here but have more water :-) less wind though :-( will check out the rest of ur vids, 1st time here
I clicked for the water wheel generator, but stayed for the solar and the interconnect panels. That's amazing work! Are you an engineer or just someone that read a book and learned on their own? Thank you for the video!
You seem to be a Mr Scientist. Thank you for sharing your art work.
If they have changed your meter to a new "smart meter" then any electricity you use you get charged for AND any overproduction that you put back out onto the grid they charge you for also, at the same rate! Even if it's only a few minutes. This is why at least one manufacturer has come out with a grid-tied inverter with limiter or GTIL which allows the electricity to be used in the home, but doesn't allow it to go back through the meter.
Of course you could always do it their way by signing up for net metering, having to rent an extra meter, having to install more expensive equipment, filling out all kinds of paperwork quarterly, and maybe even being forced to get extra insurance. Plus you must install a big expensive switch that they can turn off at any time for any reason.
They don't want people to realize that there are lots of ways to avoid paying the power plants and relying on huge corporations to take care of your basic needs.
@@Vid_Master I have said for a long time now that the power companies want to keep us thinking that it's not "cost-effective" to make our own power, because if we realize that it works well, then we don't need them anymore!
So yeah, they're right, it's not cost-effective... for them!
I would think a great set up for a Tesla. Awesome work. Loved it.
Truly amazing
Thank you for sharing
Lovely place and great mixed off grid power system! Good work 👍
It is always interesting to see electricity generated, not from the a huge power plant. But I thought that he would be free from the grid. He still pays us$80 a month.
I like your setup there. My house is solar powered and I use the utility as a backup. I also have two generators, one gas and one diesel, just in case. Love the waterwheel. I have a spot on a creek that runs most of the time and was thinking of doing something similar with the flow in the creek. It is not a navigatible waterway and I own the land on both sides of it, so maybe one day I'll get a hydroelectric setup similar to yours.
Nice setup very interesting I love the water well.
So cool!!! Nice craftsmanship.
The video shows that there is a very strong wind, but the wind generators are almost not working. It is better to use wind generators designed by Onipko "Rotor Onipko" - from Ukraine. They work even in very light winds - and are more efficient - they practically do not stop.
Awesome job! You have given me a bunch of ideas for my homestead journey. Thanks
Good grief, that’s not just belt and braces, that system’s got buttons and sashes too ! So it has to be a hobby and accumulate slowly, You could not afford to install that in one go ! This is an industrial setup !!
Ive been looking at a turbine from Turbulent hydro. They are quite spendy.
Awesome, thanks for sharing. I'm impressed that water wheel lasted 20 years! Great job.
Thank you!
Thirty-one years!
@@samwhittemore5614 Oh. Even more impressive then. :)
And not one 3D printer. Good work. Nice and neat.
This man is who we should all aspire to be like.
Loved the water wheel.. My dad would have loved seeing this.. Great and simple bearings ( the simple ideas, always the best , as he said often!) Thanks for the vid..
This is a very well thought out combination of systems...my hat off to you Sir!
Absolutely genius.
Sorry sir, do not understand all that engineering for only 16 V ????? Why not 120 V???
Don't forget, voltage alone is not power. He is running a 12-volt system- probably because it's so common, or that's how he started out and just continued on. You can always convert 12 volts DC into 120 volts AC With an inverter. Just like if you had a 24, 48, or even 120 volt DC system.
Thank you for the tour.
Your voice reminds me of Hank from King Of The Hill
this is a really well built system. I am glad to see you shut off your inverters when your generator is going. there is a way to make them work together but you will need a different inverter
I have duel wind and solar...waterwheel not practical being so far north for me, but yours delivers a very respectable consistant power output! Like your setup, well done! cheers from northern BC, Canada
Wow, thanks!
Like the panoramic view from the roof. Very interesting to see so many basic things put to good use and working together.
ЭТО ЛУЧШЕЕ ЧТО Я ВИДЕЛ ПО АЛЬТЕРНАТИВНОЙ ЭНЕРГЕТИКЕ!!!!!!!
as for total production, i feel you need more rpm on your generator. try a second gear.
And swap alternator for a 30kw pma
I was thinking the same thing. That water wheel probably has a ton of torque going to waste. It’s easily turning that generator at a very slow speed. Adding some gearing would increase the generator RPMs and the watts with it. Based on what I saw he’s only generating 50-60 watts, barely enough to light and old light bulb. Am I missing something there? Not sure what the output potential is in that old generator after he modified it. (Kris Harbour would be all over that efficiency. You should check out his channel)
@@notreallyme425 Nope you are right.
Very impressive hobby! That spring has an impressive output.
That project/hobby of yours is so cool! Everything is present from wind, solar to water generators and also grid tied! The hydro power generator is the one working 24/7 since the 90s? It's so cool.
Fantastic! I love it!
What an excellent place to live
WOW! You have done a TON of work with your electrical system! Integrating all the different technologies and getting them to play together is quite a feet!
Your work putting everything together is very nice! The panels and the wiring is top notch!
Thank you for taking us on a detailed tour!
Very impressive micro hydro!!! If you got rid of the two pvc plugs with the 4 notches and replaced them with a taller piece of pvc so none of the water went down those drains the extra water would go over the wheel and make more power and still self regulate the pond level. How did you get so lucky to have the ability to do wind, hydro, and solar on a single property...AWESOME!
Normally water doesn't go down those until the water level is to high. I can move them up and down some. Guess I just got lucky. Not enough to pay for it self but a great hobby. Thanks for watching.
@@kevincrawford2027 - as it's a living growing system, a few slight changes could make it pay for itself, should that ever be your desire. A tip of the fedora to you, sir.
well that's slick as hell! Love the overly heavy crank too LOL :D