The Advantages to Micro-Hydro and Pico-Hydro Electric Energy
- WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Birch Newell (Creator)
- Institution
- Western Carolina University (WCU )
- Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
- Advisor
- Bora Karayaka
Abstract: The portable hydroelectric generator is a device able to charge 5-volt devices through a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port. As the demand for energy becomes higher and higher, the world will need to start converting from non-renewable resources, such as oil and gasoline, to more renewable resources, such as wind, solar, timber, and hydraulic energy. The issue with these forms of energy is that they are not efficient and as a result, need to take up large amounts of land or water for them to work. The goal for the portable hydroelectric generator was to create a non-intrusive environmental device able to be fully submerged within a flowing stream and generate electricity through the spinning of a turbine, directly attached to a direct current (DC) motor creating an electrical difference. To accomplish this goal, the portable hydroelectric generator takes a circular shape with a 20.3 cm diameter for a compact transportable design with a 17.8 cm diameter turbine attached to it. With this design the portable hydroelectric generator was able to sustain a steady 5 watts of electrical energy being able to charge any 5-volt USB device off of a 3 meter per second flow rate of water. All in all, the portable hydroelectric generator is a down scaled prototype and could be upscaled to increase the power of the device for higher demands of energy.
The Advantages to Micro-Hydro and Pico-Hydro Electric Energy
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Created on 4/14/2020
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Other
- Poster submitted to the 2020 Research and Scholarship Conference, Western Carolina University.
- Language: English
- Date: 2020
- Keywords
- hydroelectric energy, renewable resources, portable hydroelectric generator