Local farmer achieves goal of getting off power grid by harnessing hydro-energy

Louis Joubert, a local farmer, and sawmill owner in Georges Valley realised his vision of living off the grid by harnessing the energy potential of water at his farm, Mazuri.

“I set the initial goal of using only hydro-energy in 1985, more than thirty years ago. We tried several systems but the previous attempts were not stable,” says Joubert. He tried a waterwheel and other patents but finally found the right system for the task when he met with engineers from WD Power, hydroelectric power specialists based in Johannesburg.

Joubert’s hydro-power system starts at a 200mm pipeline leading down from a small dam for 45m to a hydro station. Here a micro-hydro-turbine is fed with 12 litres of water per second which in turn generates 4kW of electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The micro-hydro-turbine generates 380V which is converted to 500V DC power. This leads to inverters where the electrical current powers the household with 220V and charges lithium-ion batteries to store excess electricity. Full article...

*Engineering Manager at WD Power, Brian Adendorff, is a member of SAIMechE.