Son built a big 3500sq ft house off the grid. Solar panels with a diesel generator backup. Generator was automatically kicking on way too often during the overcast winter months so we put in a micro-hydro system for backup off-grid trickle charge. We trenched/bulldozed in about 400' of PVC 4 inch pen stock with about a 130 foot drop in elevation to run this power plant with about 48 psi water pressure. It's a work in progress, but works nicely.
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