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Clean Energy from Water Turbines in US Canals

Posted December 16th, 2011 by editor

Hydrovolts is a Seattle, Washington based start-up company with an innovative micro-hydro turbine technology. Instead of

relying on natural water resources, their Hydrovolts turbines are designed specifically for use in man-made waterways, such

as irrigation canals, wa ter diversion channels, discharge channels for w astewater, cooling water discharges from thermal

power plants and large hydropower projects.

The company was a global finalist in the 2009 CleanTech Open, and winner of that years National Sustainability Award. It

also w on the CleanTech Open Sustainability Award for the Northwest Region in 2010. This year, Hydrovolts w as recognized

as a Global Innovator by launch.org, a business mentoring program sponsored by NASA, USAID, the U.S. Department of State

and NIKE. The company also won the ImagineH2O Water-Energy Nexus Business P lan Competition.

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Hamner first got the idea for Hydrovolts while working on a feasibility

study for a proposed tidal power plant in the Tacoma Narrows region of

Puget Sound in 2007. Ultimately, the report concluded that a commercial

tidal power plant was not technically or economically feasible. But, the

study did inspire Hamner to explore the possibility of generating power

in smaller, artificial water channels. Unlike Puget Sound, these canals

generally have steady, predictable currents, contain little or no debris, have

no endangered species, and are easily accessible by road, he said. They

are also typically maintained by large engineering organizations that know

how to handle machinery.

Hydrovolts was born from Hamners desire to develop a plug and play, drop-in micro-hydro turbine that requires no

concrete or construction, and utilizes commercial off-the-shelf components. The turbine features a flipwing rotor, which uses

hinged blades to rotate the center turbine shaft. As the blades begin their reverse upstream stroke, they flip open

backwards to e liminate resistance (see video of turbine in action at http://youtu.be/0stSa5jyE6c).

The company offers three different blade designs, which can be switched out to accommodate different current levels and

applications. The turbine itself also comes in three different sizes, capable of producing 100w to 16kW, depending on water

velocity. The smallest model is about the s ize of a two-drawer filing cabinet, and can be installed by two people in less than

an hour. The largest model fits inside of a standa rd shipping container.

The simplicity of Hydrovolts technology has been central to its initial success, Hamner said. We have the benefit of having a

technology that is simple for everybody to understand. Its obvious that it worksyou can see it spin. If it works in one water

canal, it will work in all of them.

According to Hamner, Hydrovolts technology has only recently become cost-effective, due to technological advances in small

wind turbine generators and micro-inverters. In many states, including Washington, micro-hydro turbines do not even qualify

as renew able resources under the states Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS).

But, Hamner believes that micro-hydro in artificial water systems is an untapped, cheap distributed energy resource that can

stand on its own without renewable energy incentives. When properly sited, Hydrovolts turbine is priced to pa y for itself

within five years. The [turbines] simply make inexpensive power. There are a million-plus miles of suitable canals out there. Its

like the world is covered in highways of water, and we just invented the first car.
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In addition to net metering and battery charging, Hamner envisions the technology being used for irrigation. Most canal

systems cover large dry areas of the w orld, he s aid. These areas a re home to billions of rural people who live on

subsistence farming. The turbines will make it possible to not only have clean energy suitable to powering a village, but they

can also simply pump water out of the canals to create fertile farmland. The impact is not just on renewable energy, but also

on new food production.

Hydrovolts currently has four turbines operating in the field. An additional turbine is currently being installed to power

Christmas lights at the wastewater treatment plant in Port Orchard, Washington. The company will soon begin formal fieldtesting at a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation canal in Yakima, Washington as well.

I asked Burt if, as an entrepreneur, he had any advice for other people who think they might have a good clean-tech

business idea. I encourage other pe ople to get into an incubator environment as fast a s you can be cause its difficult to

create a bus iness w hen youre w orking in your hous e or some cheap o ffice, he s aid. Being [at the McKinstry Innovation

Center] gives us access to manufacturing services, grantwriting, financing and so much more. The other thing I can

recommend is to participate in business plan competitions. When we first started out, w e w ere just two guys with a big idea

and a small scale model. We entered every business contest we could get into and thats help fund the companywe ha ve

won over $200,000 in cash and services But, even if you dont win, the mentoring resources are invaluable.

by Lauren Craig a Contributing Writer athttp://www.earthtechling.com. She is a Policy Intern at Northwest SEED, a

Contributing Writer at EarthTechling and Co-Founder / Installer at Sustainable Systems Integrators, LLC

(http://www.ssillc.coop )

All tags:

power plantWashingtonHamnermicro-hydro HydrovoltsturbineEnvironment / GreenSeattleLauren CraigtechnologywastewaterEarthTechlingcanalsinnovative

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