SMART turbine for running rivers

A basic module with hydropower, 3 kWp PV, 20 kWh batteries, off grid distribution system and either a mill or a pump is available at € 27,500 ex works Germany. Currently (2019) operations are transferred to India and Colombia to be closer to their core markets and to decrease opex.

This solution gives public services in the most remote areas and thereby allows social integration of large parts of the population in our target markets. The integration of productive use allow economic sustainability and increasing wealth.

The specific costs € / kWh of electricity generated with the Smart Turbine are below the costs of its main competitor the diesel generator and at higher river velocities even below the price of electricity from the grid. Given diesel costs of 1 € per liter a diesel generator produces electricity at approx. 0.50 $ / kWh. The development of the SMART turbine followed a design-to-cost approach to meet these costs. Given a short amortization period a final price of no more than 14,580 € (FOB) has been defined. This includes almost everything needed for installation: the turbine, anchor cable, electrical cable and the inverter. The installation itself is kept simple and inexpensive. This makes the SMART turbine competitive for governmental institutions or corporates which are not cash restricted. To appeal to smaller institutions or households which are cash strapped, the SMART turbine needs to be combined with micro-financing models as existent by institutions like BID or others.

The SMART turbine is made of three main components:
In the heart of the product is a permanent-magnet, synchronous, AC, underwater generator capable of producing up to 5 kW. The rotor blades attach directly without gearbox onto the rotor holder.
The generator is situated horizontally inside the floating diffusor body which has the function of providing stability and efficiency.
An underwater power cable coming from the generator transports varying AC power to dry land.  The electrical componentry transforms this into useable single-phase AC.
The turbine can be installed in various ways due to its light weight (360 kg) and size.
The entire system is standardized and was designed to cost.

The system operates on a 4.5 kW module, as the design is 100% modular it can be enlarged up to 50 kW easily by integrating more modules.

Nigeria, Zambia, Indonesia, India, Laos, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, USA, Canada