Pico Hydro How To Downloads

Hello Chris,

The first paragraph should be tattooed onto the chest of NGO-ONG people. I remember being a Philosophy Major and studying Logic, some comments on Empirical Data, the teacher gave an example of few so-called Philosophers discussing how many teeth a horse had, and the conversation was continuing for a long period of time finally one says,
- Let us go count. -

I was thinking, offering the wiz kids, not the NGO-ONG I do not think the know, but the wiz kids may like a challenge.

1000 US if they could go to a village with no electricity.
Then in one day of work, they can think for longer then one day, but in only one day of labor.
In one day, the go to local stores, buy all the materials needed for less than 30 US dollars and run lights into a home that is 100 meters from the river.

This is the problem, a person needs to start and finish quick, then use only local sold products.

I have here in Badou:

1. 55 Gallon Barrels for a water wheel
2. A 25 Watt 220 Fan for 10 US for a generator
3. Speaker Wire to go the 50 meters
4. I see a ton of broke TV for diodes to stop the electricity going backwards.
Note, I do not see why we need a battery, the water runs continually.

The problem, they do not need electricity, the are on the grid, hehehe, they have electricity, so I maybe I can build here, this is the problem, build here, I need a mobile source of electricity I just drop in the water and made in the backyard, garage as we think, and dropped in the water.

The have two big needs here
1. Pump water from rivers to homes.
2. Grind grains into flour.

Neither needs electricity to accomplish.

I do not think lights is needed, but they spend a lot of time carrying water, and they PAY for gas or petrol to grind grain. Seems to me that grain mills were invented that use water were invented thousands of years ago.

Pumping water up, is easier than pulling, I think a small water pump, using the power of water, to pump water could send a quarter inch tube of water 300 meters easy, and in the time of one day would pump a lot of water?

I think a 55 gallon barrel could make a good water wheel and would not sink.

Speculation and doing are two different things, sort of causing a challenge in my brain.

There is a difference between solving the needs and just making complicated solutions to easy problems to solve.

Andy in Badou, Togo May of 2007

YOU WROTE:

There's plenty of well wishing think tank activists that spend years making Appropriate Tech for places like Togo and then find either that it's one thing in the lab and unworkable in the field OR they've simply ignored how local users do things and adapt to that.  For instance one stove group spent countless hours refining a stove for Guatemalans, gathered a bunch of money and volunteers and found that they made to wrong type of stove for local cooks and their recipes.  People accepted the stoves and quickly stopped using them.  First, the people, their ways and their environment has to be surveyed and then the gadgets have to be made for that "market" aor they won't be adopted.  Some things can't be popularized until the society will accept them (great idea, but ahead of it's time).

I think I'd be glad for anything that takes less power over something that takes more to operate.  That's the whole point, right?  Suggest you have them plug in the fan for you to evaluate.  You may not be happy with it after testing.  Microhydro relies on cumulative storage of small charging capacity.  Per day, it all adds up provided you have enough battery storage.  Otherwise, you need larger chargers to provide the energy for using bigger appliances on demand in Real-Time mode.

Use of a water pump as a ready made turbine/generator should be checked out.  Off the shelf sounds good.

I just sub'ed to a Pico Hydro and it's download site which you might be able to use direct from the link  Pico Hydro For Village Power (for under 5 KW) looks like it might be good.  Multiple pdf's for easier download.  It get's interesting by the 2nd download listed with pics of their Pico Power Pak the 7th pdf downoad (last chapter section) Basic Electricity looks like required reading or for review.  I think these would get a Peace Corp puke dumped somewhere without a project to get started on hot.  All in all, a good eBook in readable style (for a technical manual) for free.