Hydroelectric Waterwheel System - Sustainability

UPDATE  We have not done much the past few weeks because we have been busy with other things. Stefan said he has got nearly all parts we need for the project. I hope to get back to it soon.

Saturday and Sunday, 16th - 17th of September Stefan stayed over at Sam's house and they both had a very productive weekend. Summary: I won't talk about much this post as I have put together a fun video of our hydroelectric system.  We cut and screwed together lots of wood for the water wheel and its stand/holder. We were also able to secure the SmartDrive in place with lots of tests and had a fun time in the creek with it. Some of it was tough, like trying to align the wheel perfectly, but we managed to get it working in the end. We tested our 300W inverter on a small lamp and it was great, we also managed to get the SmartDrive turning on full load in the creek which was really impressive, considering we haven't even built a proper flume to project the water more efficiently. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this video:

Our project is to build a hydroelectric system as part of our sustainability issue. PLAN: Our final goal is to complete this build and have it running efficiently - we will avoid power loss and waste by making adjustments and tweaks along the way. Our steps so far: - Investigated the stream - Collected the SmartDrive motor - Began to research parts in a hydroelectric system - Began to design then started building the water wheel - Ordered online necessary parts Our steps for the future: - Finish building water wheel - Rewire SmartDrive - Setup water wheel with SmartDrive, adjust for peak performance and test on load - Wait for parts to arrive  - Install ordered parts - Lead wires to house/Caravan - Test our system along the way, there will most likely be failures so we will have to try fix them as best as possible, and this will take time. Depending on the issues, such as the electrical parts or the spinning of the wa

Sunday, 10th of September Stefan and Sam (with the help of his dad), began to design, cut, sand and loosely put together the water wheel.  The day: In the morning, Sam's dad helped us to cut the harder parts of the water wheel. After a quick search, Stefan found out the paddles should be small and on an angle to create small pockets for the water to catch in.  We first cut 2 big circles of plywood for the outside of the wheel and then 16 rectangular smaller pieces for the middle and paddles. Then came the refinements. Sam sanded most of the plywood, evening out the pieces so they were of the same size.  A week earlier, Stefan had made a prototype to hold the smart drive generator together out of MDF wood. This sucks in rain so Sam cut a new one and we re-did it out of ply. The results were great! After the hard day of work, we were able to sit down and relax. We were now able to assemble the wheel loosely to see how it would work. Looks awesome so far. At the t

Stefan Stoove Sustainability  - Our problem is that we cannot charge and power small appliances at Sam's house without the use of the generator. This can create issues such as not being able to do schoolwork on devices at home and insufficient lighting. For our project we will solve these issues while helping out their family and sustaining the environment. We will construct a hydroelectric system using an old washing machine motor which will produce sustainable, clean green energy. A budget of around $150 seems reasonable for this project.  ISSUES: 1. Cost of petrol in generator - with a hydroelectric system, the load on the generator will decrease. 2. Pollutants - Petrol is combusted: bad for you and the environment since it is derived from fossil fuels. 3. Power isn't readily available  - straight up , a small battery bank won't handle high wattage appliances for long. This means they will heavily rely on using the generator if they require running

So basically, I said that I was doing a school project and was looking for a smart drive washing machine motor, the people at the dump said cool and pointed over to where the old washing machines were. I had help from my dad to remove the stator, shaft and other bits to rebuild it into a generator at home. I was able to do this successfully and the results were amazing. The one wheel was able to produce over 20 volts at just 1 turn a second! So, I decided to spin it as fast as I could. My multimeter showed the voltage produced. 130 VOLTS!!! If you were wondering, I was careful not to TOUCH it at the high voltage, but did have some fun at below 50, it tingles and pulses through the fingers. I blew a couple of LEDS and resistors with ease. This generator does produce 3 phase AC, quite confusing for some people like me. I am considering purchasing a 3 phase rectifier to convert this voltage into DC so it is easier to work with.