PV/Hydro Systems and a visit to the Lil Otto Hydroworks! Richard Perez I was delighted when Bob-O Schultze and Otto Eichenhofer invited us to visit some PV/Hydro systems along the Salmon River. The Salmon River runs madly through northern California, and if you want power along the River, then you make your own. The independent folks living along the Salmon have been doing just that. Brian Green, our HP photographer, and I saddled up and drove up and down the icy mountain roads to the little town of Cecilville, CA. Now everyone in Cecilville makes their own power. The nearest commercial utility is over thirty miles away- through some of the most rugged mountains in the USA. The Cecilville Scene We met Bob-O and Kathleen at the General Store in Cecilville (pop. 20). Kathleen, Bob-O's wife, was doing the driving since Bob-O was recovering from an argument with a large tree that nearly cost him his leg. The Cecilville Store, hub of all neighborhood activity, is powered by a 15kW. diesel engine generator. While few folks live inside the micro village of Cecilville itself, many live up and down the serpentine one-lane road that follows the Salmon River's course. Almost all the folks along "the River" have engine/generators. Many are using micro or nano hydro systems and photovoltaics. Joyce Eichenhofer's Home Our first stop was the home of Joyce Eichenhofer, which is pictured on the cover of this issue. Joyce lives right next to the Salmon. Here her beautiful house is powered by home-made electricity. Joyce uses a combination of three power sources. Visible on her roof are four photovoltaic panels (2 @ Kyocera 48 Watt panels and 2 @ Solavolt 36 Watt panels). This PV array produces about 168 Watts, or about 12 Amperes at 13.5VDC, when under full sun. Bob-O mentioned that at Joyce's location the Winter sun only shines on the panels for about 2 hours daily (Summer performance is much better). During the Winter, Joyce falls back on her Lil Otto Hydroelectric system for power. Lil Otto turbines are made by her son, Otto, so she gets factory service and no doubt a right price. Her Lil Otto turbine runs on a working pressure of 18 PSI generated by about 40 feet of head. She uses a 9/32" nozzle, consuming about 9.7 gallons per minute, to produce an output of 1.35 Amperes. Joyce's turbine is producing about 18 Watts, with a daily output of 430 Watt-hours. During the Winter, Joyce's PV panels produce a daily average of about 336 Watt-hours because the mountains shade them most of the time. So during the Winter, Joyce's nanohydro turbine produces more electricity than the PV array (eventhough the PV array has a peak output almost ten times greater). The third power source is an aged 2 cylinder diesel engine/generator. When all else fails, Joyce can fall back on the generator to source her system. This 6 kW. generator also sources the machine tools in the Lil Otto Hydroworks! building nearby (more on this later). Joyce uses lead-acid batteries, housed in her basement, to store the power her PVs and nanohydro produce. She uses two Trojan L-16s, a 200 Ampere-hour, 12 Volt Interstate diesel starting battery, and an assortment of other 12 Volt batteries. Total capacity of her battery pack is about 500 Ampere-hours at 12 VDC. Joyce's system also uses a brand spanking new Trace 2012 inverter to convert the DC stored power in the batteries into 120 vac for her appliances. Also located in the basement is a Heliotrope CC60 PV charge controller that rides herd on the array's output. I asked Otto why he had such a large (60 Ampere) control on the 12 Amp. array. He replied he's looking forward to expanding his mom's array soon. Electrically speaking, Joyce has all the conveniences. For example, her refrigerator/freezer is a super-efficient, 12 VDC operated, SunFrost RF-12. This refrigerator/freezer consumes about 290 Watt-hours daily in Joyce's kitchen. Otto is busy taking data on the SunFrost's performance with a motor run-time meter. Joyce's home is primarily wired for 120 vac, but there are a few special 12 VDC circuits directly supplied by the battery. Joyce uses 12 VDC for a fluorescent light on the ceiling of the kitchen, for her CB radio and for the SunFrost. Entertainment electronics are powered by 120 vac from the Trace inverter. Joyce runs her washing machine when Otto's out in the shop and the large generator is operating. INSERT PHOTO Bob-O Schultze and Otto Eichenhofer sit under Joyce's back porch. Located between them, a Lil Otto turbine produces 18 Watts of power while consuming only 9.7 gallons of water per minute. Photo by Brian Green. The Lil Otto Hydroworks We also visited the shop that Bob-O and Otto use to make their nanohydro turbines. Against a background of machine tools, ranks of Lil Otto turbines march down their assembly line, jump into boxes, and travel to streams & springs round the world. It was inspiring to see the obvious care and thought that goes into their manufacture. Bob-O and Otto start out with a permanent magnet Bosch generator. This generator is coupled to an molded turbine wheel made by Powerhouse Paul Cunningham at Energy Systems and Design in Canada (see ad this issue). The generator is housed in a sealed PVC pipe case. Bob-O and Otto are now installing a new "gravity tube" along the shaft of the unit to eliminate water infiltration to the generator's inards. The unit is supplied with a blocking diode (to keep the generator from becoming a motor) and filtration to keep electrical noise from interfering with radios and TVs. There is a 0-8 Ampere output meter on Lil Otto's top so operation can be checked at a glance. INSERT PHOTO An exploded view of a Lil Otto turbine showing the various sub-assemblies inside. Photo by Brian Green. INSERT PHOTO Fly cutting the water intake hole in the side of a Lil Otto case. This is a delicate operation that must be done precisely because it determines the position where the water jet hits the turbine wheel. Photo by Brian Green. The Lil Otto units will produce up to five amperes, with enough head and flow. Where this turbine really shines is in the gallons per minute required for operation. This turbine consumes very little water. For performance data on these turbines, see HP#13 "Things that Work!" article about Lil Otto. Bob-O and Otto deserve credit for intelligent and efficient use of off-the-shelf components in manufacturing Lil Otto turbines. For example, the housings are sections of stock PVC pipe. The various sized nozzles used (and there is one to fit every hydro site) are stock RainbirdĒ sprinkler nozzles. Well, we were ready for more. Obviously Otto's mom, Joyce, was satisfied with her PV/Hydro system and was justly proud of her inventive son. But she's Otto's mom and could be biased. We asked to talk to some paying customers. Bob-O smiled and invited us on a trip down River. Getting down River This turned out to be an adventure in itself. The road that winds along the Salmon from Cecilville to Forks of Salmon is mostly one lane with sharp 100+ foot drops into the surging river. Kathleen drove first because she had a CB radio in her car. The CB radio is essential because you have to know when a log truck is coming so that you can pull out in a place that is wide enough for the log truck to pass. Kathleen (also a ham radio op) kept us advised of traffic on our 2 meter ham radios. As I drove along I had trouble keeping my eyes on the road, the scenery was too distracting. Rock cliffs plunged down into the foaming river. From bends in the road, large mountain meadows filled with trees soothed my senses. I like mountains and the peace they give. The Salmon mountains are very beautiful. It is easy to understand why these folks live in such a remote place. Terry & Betty Ann Hanauer's Home After about 30 minutes of driving we arrived at another PV/Hydro system at the home of Terry and Betty Ann. Betty Ann, a school teacher, took time off to show us her well built and immaculate home. This large, owner built home, houses their family of six people. Their home has been powered by site-generated electricity since 1987. Power sources at the Hanauer home are much the same as at Joyce Eichenhofer's home. The Hanauers use a PV array composed of three 36 Watt Solavolt panels. On an average day this array makes about 600 Watt-hours of electricity. These panels are fortunately located on one of the sunnier locations along the river. Terry & Betty Ann also use a Lil Otto turbine. This Lil Otto, however, is located at a much better site than Joyce's. At Terry & Betty Ann's site the turbine has 72 feet of head to work with (32 PSI dynamic pressure). Here the turbine produces 2.5 Amperes with a 1/4 inch diameter nozzle consuming 10 gallons per minute. Terry & Betty Ann's turbine produces 33 Watts and makes 810 Watt-hours of electricity per day. Combined production of both the PV array and the nanohydro turbine is about 1,400 Watt-hours daily, and that's enough to run a household with four kids! Terry & Betty Ann also use an engine/generator (Onan two cylinder 6kW. powered by propane) for extended cloudy periods and times of intense power consumption. INSERT PHOTO Lil Otto on the rocks. Since the entire turbine weighs less than 20 pounds, it's easy to mount. Here Lil Otto sits on a pile of rocks. Photo by Brian Green. Terry & Betty Ann use a battery pack of four Trojan L-16 batteries to store the power produced by Lil Otto and the PV array. This battery pack is housed in an insulated blister on the outside of the house. Bob-O Schultze fabricated a custom regulator for the PV array. A Trace 2012 inverter with 110 Ampere battery charger is used to power the house and recharge the batteries when the generator is running. Betty Ann says that with four kids, the washing machine gets alot of action. She starts the generator, does the washing and refills her batteries all at the same time. The Hanauer's home is wired for 12 VDC lighting, which spends much time operating. The Sabir refrigerator/freezer is powered by propane. Betty Ann is a gourmet cook and her kitchen is filled with good things. Among these things are many kitchen appliances (food processors, grinder, mixers, blenders and such) that all run from the inverter. Betty Ann said that cooking was more enjoyable because she didn't have to start the generator just for a few minutes of kitchen appliance use. Everyone likes not having the generator yammering while reading or listen to the stereo. Hot water is produced by a large solar collector located next to the PV array. Betty Ann told us that in the Summer, even with wash and four kids to bathe, there is more than enough hot water being produced by their solar collector to meet their needs. INSERT PHOTO Betty Ann Hanauer in her kitchen. Photo by Brian Green. Lessons Learned From experience, the folks along the river have learned a great deal about making their own power. They've learned that even a trickle can be turned into a watt. They learned to use a variety of natural power sources without damaging their environment. They've learned to use what they have available. And certainly, they've learned contentment and happiness.