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Is anyone on The Big Island powering their homes or business' with small scale hydro electric generators? Will Water Management allow such a thing? I know there are a couple larger hydro plants that are selling energy to heco but I am interested in off grid self sufficiency types of power generation, something more reliable that solar on he rainy side of the island. Thanks for any input on a relatively obscure topic!
William DeBoe
Palm Beach, FL
Moe'uhane Oihana mahi ai
Mahi 'ai 'Ulu
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The water dept. Has the only hydroelectric but it's just for their use
And the EIS process would make anything not grandfathered in impossible
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There is another family with a fully permitted hydro electric system in Ainako. It has been there and in operation successfully for more than 20 years and does very well.
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The answer is "yes". There are many homes being powered by mini hydro systems. I know of one guy who powers up his electric Nissan Leaf every night with his hydro system and drives for "free" all day long. His system also powers the large home he lives in.
I'm having one installed for the home I'm building.
Obviously, the key is to find property that has a reliable year round stream either running along side or through it. The steeper the grade the stream flows down the better. The more of this "head", the more power the system creates.
Here's the company I'm using.
http://www.wildnaturesolutions.com/hydro.html
-Veritas odium parit”(Terence 195–159 BC))-"Truth begets hatred".
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If you need to grub or grade in the riparian zone (county has the limitations on each watershed) then probably no.... you probably will not be able to obtain the grub & grade permit & should not for environmental reasons
the other really BIG problem here is the flashy nature of almost all of the waterways here (and of course there is also the problem in Puna of even FINDING a waterway...) Even the Wailuku has many times where there is not enough waterflow & most waterways have times that there is not enough for even a jack rabbit hydro generator!
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I've been wanting to do power generation off the downspout of my home, generating minihydro electricity with the idea of storing it for use in my home. Obviously, its generation would be sporadic so good storage is the key to success. I'm told it is feasible and the guy from Life of the Land said he has plans for how to set it up. His name is Henry (can't remember his last name but should be on LOL website) so I plan to pursue this. Anyone know of someone already doing it?
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Are there any of these mini systems in Puna
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There are no running streams in Puna !
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there is someone on CL doing this ...
http://honolulu.craigslist.org/big/bfs/3364305839.html
dunno if this guy is actually in hawaii. But... there ya go.
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You still need a running stream !
