Hydro to Go Dear Friends; I'm thinking of setting up a mini-hydro system to provide a modest charging current on a 24-hour basis for the electric vehicle. Getting a decent charge rate out of PVs at 36 Volt means buying a lot of panels. We have a nearby location where, years ago, somebody put in a little dam on a creek to run an incredibly inefficient undershot water wheel to generate power. It has long since fallen into disrepair, but the dam still offers a pretty good flow with about a five foot head. If I could squeeze a few hundred watts out of a small Francis turbine, I'd be in business. That issue of HP with such a turbine (multi-kW) on the cover is in my file up in McCarthy, AK. So I am resorting to asking if you know anyone who handles small Francis turbines, or at least the parts. I don't recall seeing any mentioned by your advertisers except a vague mention of low- head hydro by "Powerhouse Paul". This site is about 1000 feet away, so I would want to use a 110 Vac generator to feed variac-controlled rectifier as charger. I suspect I'll have to cobble together assorted parts to keep it economical. Ed LaChapelle, Olympia, WA Hiya Ed. There are at least two ways to go on this, depending on what a "pretty good" flow turns out to be. Ron MacLeod can and probably will design and build a Francis turbine custom-made for your site. A Francis-type is the most efficient runner to use in a low-head, "pretty good" flow site, but it isn't for the faint-hearted. You'll probably have to rebuild or fortify the dam to accommodate the hydroplant and trashrack. A lot of work, but once done, you could spin a variety of generator/regulator combos to fit your needs and then some. Try for Ron at POB 286, Glenmoore, PA 19343 ù 215-458-8133. A less efficient, but lots cheaper, alternative might be one of Powerhouse Paul's Stream Enginestm. It's based on a turgo runner which will work (kinda) at heads down to five feet if you've got Ä you guessed it Ä a "pretty good" flow. Paul's scheme uses an induction generator to generate high voltage ac which is then transformed and rectified at the batteries. Might just fit your EV charging needs nicely. Paul can be reached at Energy Systems & Design, POB 1557, Sussex, N.B. Canada, E0E 1P0 ù 506-433-3151. Ä Bob-O The Long and Short of it Love Will Emerson's cartoon on page 67. Our fledgling distributorship has that very problem as many potential clients just can't get a loan for PV. We have lived 18 miles off the grid for seven years and still love it. Now I have a question for Bob- O regarding Tech Notes, issue 32. Why do you adjust your panels on the equinoxes and solstices? We do ours six weeks before and after: February 7 and August 7, at an angle equal to the latitude (35ø here); May 7, latitude minus 15ø (20ø for us); and November 7, latitude plus 15ø (50ø here). That just makes more sense to me. Skyview Alternative Source of Energy, Robert (Bobby) Leonard and Evajane Duvall, POB 677, Talihina, OK 74571 You're right! I consulted the Wizard for the times and angles for the seasonal adjustment of photovoltaic modules. The angle q refers to the angle between the ground (horizon) and the PVs (the modules are facing south for us northern hemisphere types and face north for those down under): On February 21, set q to latitude (our latitude is 42ø). April 21, set q to latitude minus 18ø to 19ø (here, it's 42ø - 18ø = 24ø). August 21, set q back to latitude. And on October 21, set q to latitude plus 18ø to 19ø (for us, 42ø plus 18ø equals 60ø). And so on... Ä Therese