Hello!
I am about to start building a water wheel for my property here in central Portugal.
We already have a small 24V solar system and this is more than enough in the summer - but as we are in a valley we get limited sun and are looking for an additional power source to top our batteries up through the winter!.
We have an underground stream that exits a wall into a ditch and I think this is an ideal place to build a water wheel. (I have made a rough sketch of what this could look like!)
The height of this stream is around 1.5m and the water wheel would be around 1.5m in diameter. The stream produces between 20-40 l/s.
My main question is about what kind of wheel to build. And then what kind of alternator and gearing system would be best for efficiency.
I'm guessing a 400-600W PMA would be a good option and I hoped someone on here had some advice as to where I could get a good one!
Thanks and all advice is very welcome!