Performance of Home-Scale Hydropower Unit

Current stringent environment regulations drives the urgency of producing energy via green approach globally. In contrast to the traditional coal power plant, hydropower is clean and zero carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxides emission. However, the construction of hydropower plant causes deforestation and this affects the stability of ecosystem. This study reveals the design of home scale hydropower unit. The performance of this simple and economic design was evaluated in terms of water flow rate and elevation on power generation. Results showed that the voltage generated by the turbine increased from 0.23V to 5.47V when the water flow rate was increased from 7.12 mL/s to 32.44 mL/s. It was due to higher kinetic energy possessed by the water at higher flow rate. Similarly, when elevation head was increased from 61 cm to 205 cm, the voltage was increased approximately 345% from 2.37V. In conclusion, the home scale hydropower unit proposed in this study was able to generate power for real life application. Additional current/voltage booster can be installed at the unit to increase the power to support more electronic devices at home.