Hydro Home System - an Inventory on Rural Electrification

Anup K.C., Undergraduate (Final Year)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Kathmandu University
Dhulikhel, Nepal
E-mail: kc_anupkc@hotmail.com
Co- authors: Gokarna Poudel, Shivaraj Poudel, Munindra Khadka, Undergraduate (Final Year)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Kathmandu University
Dhulikhel, Nepal
AbstractA motor dynamo-based family pico-hydropower
system called Hydro Home System (HHS), targeted to reach
power demand at local level, is a rural electrification project.
A self-sufficient system with a Pelton turbine directly
coupled with motor dynamo, it is capable of continuously
generating 100 W electricity using drinking water supply
system, to charge a 12V battery. A regular generation of
electricity to charge the battery is sufficient to meet the
power demand of a family. Portable, low cost, operated and
maintained locally, it turns up as an ideal solution for
resolving the energy needs of rural areas, where there is no
electricity at all.

I.

INTRODUCTION

Nepal has vast theoretical hydropower potential. The

technically feasible potential is assumed to be above
42,000 MW of which only 548 MW has been harnessed so
far (Maskey, 2007). Electricity currently represents about
1.8 percent of energy consumption (WECS, 2006) that is
accessible only to about 40% of households in Nepal
(National average 5.4 persons/household) and a large
number of Nepalese populations are yet to enjoy the
benefits of electricity (CBS 2000, CADEC, 2003).
Hydropower being Nepal's indigenous energy resource and
the resource with the most potential for development, as
all other forms of commercial energy are based on
imported fossil fuels (petroleum and coal). Hence, a
substantial portion of the foreign exchange earnings is
spent on importing commercial fuels.
Nepal's policy to shift its GDP from the agricultural to
non-agricultural sector will continue and this will
accelerate the demand for more commercial energy.
Hydropower development is the main element in the
national energy strategy. If properly harnessed through
addressing the issues of social and environmental impacts,
hydro can become an economic boulevard for prosperous
new Nepal (Maskey, 2007).
Hydro technologies are often considered to be green
energy because there is no air emissions associated with
the output of the electricity. The term 'pico-hydro' refers to
hydroelectric installations with a power output below 5
978-1-4244-5586-7/10/$26.00

kW. With low level of electrification and inaccessibility to

national grid, community based hydro projects are becoming
very popular in developing countries like Nepal. Bangladesh
and Sri Lanka are also other countries which are adopting such
small scale hydro projects for elementary lighting using
renewable energy. Simple and viable technology for rural
areas that utilizes local resource and manpower, such small
scale hydels have become the ideal solution for energy
production in developing countries like Nepal.
Pico hydro system is generally targeted for hilly and
mountainous regions where much of our small communities
are devoid of electricity. Since the system requires small water
flow with enough head that are easily available at the water
supply taps; there are such numerous sites for their installation
in hilly and mountainous regions. Being small and compact
technology that utilizes local resource and manpower, this
system is efficient with minimal civil work; its a turnkey for
small-scale rural electrification. Hence, they present the ideal
solution for energy production in the developing countries
where capital is scarce and the local economy may depend
strongly on an ecologically sensible management of the
natural resources.
II. PROPOSED PROJECT
Hydro Home System (HHS) is a motor dynamo based
family hydro system. This pico-hydro inventory for rural
electrification having a tiny Pelton turbine coupled with a
motor dynamo; the system is capable of producing around 100
W of electricity provided that the required head of 20 m and a
discharge of 1.5 l/s are met. Using the household water supply
as source, the so generated electricity is used to charge the
battery that can later be transferred for household lighting
purpose.
With financial grant from the Lemelson Foundation USA
and Netherlands' SNV Nepal, Centre for Excellence in
Production and Transportation of Electricity (CEPTE-KU),
Kathmandu University and Rural Energy and Technology
Service Centre (RETSC) have conducted research and
development work of the HHS on behalf of Centre for Rural
Technology, Nepal (CRT/N), where the authors were involved

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to improve its efficiency by increasing its output power

from 60 W to 100 W.
After modifying the Pitch circle Diameter (PCD),
turbine housing to avert the windage loss and by replacing
the motorcycle dynamo with a Car-dynamo, the targeted
output of 100W was achieved. This system has been
installed in more than 15 sites of Dhading, Nuwakot,
Rasuwa and Sindhupalchowk, the mountainous districts of
Nepal, where the national grid hasnt reached yet.

what it is proposed for. Having felt the scope of such small

technology, a basic village electrification system has been
realized using HH system. It can be installed at any place
provided the discharge of 1-2 liters/second and the head of 3020m respectively are available. Considering the transmission
loss in low voltage system, the generated electricity is
primarily used for battery charging. A set of Hydro Home
System costs about $300 which a community can easily get in
joint initiation and utilize it for battery charging purpose in
rotation-wise manner. The system can also be used for
secondary purpose like mobile/CDMA charging and
entertainment (viz., Radio, TV, Video etc).

Figure 1. Peltric set of PCD 68.37 mm and 2 nozzles

The system is still in improvement stage as there are

several rooms to be enhanced. Possibly, the maximum
power loss occurred due to the excess bends in pipes.
Secondly, the poor workmanship on turbine casting,
housing and nozzle machining also reduced the efficiency
of the system. These aside, the incorporated equipment
like generator and battery charging controller also had
lower efficiency. With appropriate utilization of fluid
dynamics, the so caused inefficiency can be reduced and
the flow pattern can also be analyzed to manipulate the
system for maximum possible output. An effective
methodology and study with the aid of fluid dynamics
shall be possible to help enhance the performance of the
system.

Figure 3. Owner demonstrating the HHS

III.

WORKING PRINCIPLE

To install a motor dynamo based family hydro system

requires continuous flow of water. This water is brought from
an intake or water tank through a pipe around 1-1.5
diameter. At the discharge, the nozzle or spear valve that
produces the water jet converts the pressure energy of water in
the pipe into kinetic energy of the jet. The function of Pelton
runner is to convert kinetic energy to the rotational energy
(around 90%). A car dynamo is used to produce rectified DC
to charge two 6-volt batteries.
IV.

SPECIFICATION

The design specification for two nozzles HHS is given

below. This specification was used to study the performance
of HHS for a low discharge and low-head up to 15 m, so as to
popularize the system in many villages where such sites are
abundantly available.
Input parameters
Number of jet
Design speed = speed of generator
Coefficient of Discharge
Figure 2. HHS in test rig

Acceleration due to gravity

Generator's efficiency

Nonetheless, HHS is able to utilize the locally

available renewable resource to give out maximum of

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2
2400
0.97
9.808
60%

Turbine efficiency

70%

Battery charging controller

94%

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Overall efficiency

39.5%

Design Parameters
Discharge (Q) l/s
Gross head (m)
Head (H) metre
Power (P) = *g*H*Q (Watt)
Vel. of jet (V) = 0.97*(2*g*H) (m/s)
Nq=N*sqrt(Q)/h^.75
Ku=.5445-.0116*Nq
Vel of runner (U) (m/s)
Dia. Of Jet (dj), mm
Pitch Circle Dia of Runner (Dp), m

1.5
20
18
105
18
7.5
0.46
8.59
7.23
0.068

Dp/dj>=9
17.53*sqrt()*Ku
Nq<=17.53*sqrt()*Ku

9.45
7.89

the children and other people too get to stay and study in
cleaner lighting facility. In addition to these advantages, the
overall annual saving for the lamp and battery is about $105
with the lighting facility when replaced with hydroelectricity.
The end-use appliances used are electric devices like Compact
Fluorescent Lamp (CFL), White Light Emitting Diode
(WLED) and battery charging for domestic lighting, mobile
phones etc.

OK

With the aid of fluid dynamics, parameters like losses

in pipes, windage in the Pelton housing, pipe division (Y
division) for double nozzle, performance variation with
GI-pipe or aluminum chrome PV pipes can be
meticulously studied for further improvement of the
system.
V.

SOCIO- ECONOMIC ASPECT

The small-scale hydro projects like HHS are the

community-based projects utilizing the locally available
resources. The technologies in such systems are so
designed to meet the requirements of the local peoples.
Thus, such systems become an indigenous approach of the
technology. With the management and ownership by the
community itself, this too is a decentralized project.

Figure 5. CFL and Radio operated by HHS

With the compact system, its efficient with minimal civil

works and the yield is also instant. Further, the whole system
is handed over to the local end-users forming Electricity Users
Committee (EUC) for operation and maintenance. This owns
the sense of ownership. Also, with time, both the sides of the
development divide- those offering assistance and those
receiving it- will feel and experience the practical and
synergetic benefit. With this, the project investment may be
paid back within less than two years making this project
financially very attractive to replicate it for enhancing rural
livelihood elsewhere in Nepal.
VI.

Figure 4. Demonstration site for the HHS

Such small power generation system can provide

electricity to the rural communities which otherwise might
take a long time for the national projects to cater
hydroelectricity to these far-flung load centres.
With the green energy, there is a marginal level of
health benefit as it helps to reduce the indoor air pollution
by replacing the kerosene-based wick-lamps. This aside,

CONCLUSION

Nepal is known as a country with huge potential of

hydropower. Unfortunately, only about 40 percent of the
households in Nepal have access to electricity and a large
number of populations are yet to enjoy the benefits of
electricity. More than 60 % people live in remote areas where
large projects cannot be launched due to the high cost of
distribution systems. Nepal being a country of rural and
isolated committees, the suitability of small-hydel systems is
distinctly visible. So, the market of small hydels in Nepal is
extensively high. With no grid connection in sight and power
outage getting inflammatory in the recent days even in the
urban areas, the rural communities need to tap their locally
available renewable energy resources. In the target areas for
this project, harnessing the drinking water sources provides
significant potential for renewable resources suitable for
remote area power supply purpose by articulating it with a
small, embedded power generation unit sufficient for minimal
lighting purposes.

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Hydro Home System is a community-based project

underscored by tapping the local resources. Simple design,
low maintenance and long life expectancy make its market
distinctly viable in rural areas. By incorporating suitable
technology to analyze the hydrodynamic parameter and
performance analysis of the inventory so as to increase its
performance to optimum level, the system is sure to be
boon to our rural folks. With such projects of local impact,
both side of development divide- assistant and receiverwill feel the mutual benefits. A simple technology that
generates a power enough for a household makes it
suitable for rural areas at least in the initial phase of rural
electrification process- a step towards achieving
Millennium Development Goal, making hydropower as an
appropriate alternative renewable form of energy.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge with thanks our supervisor Prof. Dr.
Ramesh Kumar Maskey, Coordinator of Centre for
Excellence in Production and Transportation of Electrical
Energy (CEPTE) of Kathmandu University, for his
continued support and supervision to carryout the research
and development on Hydro Home System. Similarly, we
extend our gratitude to Rural Energy and Technology
Service Centre as well as Centre for Rural Technology for

providing their workshop as well as access to information

respectively.
REFERENCES
[1]

CBS (2000), Statistical Pocket Book of Nepal, His Masjesty's

Government of Nepal, National Planning Commission Secretariat,
Central Bureau of Statistics, Kathmandu, Napal.
[2] CADEC (2003): Micro-hydro e-news, 2(19), Community Awareness
Development Centre, Nepal.
[3] Energy Forum, Sri Lanka. Report of the South Asia Regional Workshop
on Developing Standards for Micro- Hydro Sector Colombo, Sril
Lanka, 2004
[4] Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 26 Dec. 2008.
<http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/>
[5] Maskey, R. K. (2007): "Hydropower Development: A Boulevard for
Prosperous New Nepal",Souvenir 2065, Club Fifty, Nepal.
[6] Motor Dynamo based Family Hydro (MDFH) Brochure. Centre for
Rural Technology/ Nepal (CRT/N), Kumaripati, Kathmandu. 2008
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