Micro Power to the People

A letter to the editor alerted me to my chance to finally see a microhydro system. On January 18, Vivian Stockman and I visited Mickey and Jennifer Janowski, who live at an elevation of 2,250 feet in Webster County, W.Va.

We didn’t go to admire their log home, which they built themselves — but we did that, too, while we were there. They’ve had an off-grid solar power system since the 1970s, but it was minimal: 500+ watts with a less-than-ideal exposure. However, they live on a lovely, reliable creek. So, with help from Matt Sherald, owner of Power In My Backyard (PIMBY), Janowski recently built a microhydro system to supplement the solar power system. They used a turbine called the Stream Engine, created by Paul Cunningham of Energy Systems and Design.