VIEWPOINT
Home-grown power W
BY JIM SCHAIBLE, MANAGING EDITOR
hile exploring my parents’ adopted home town of Allegan, Michigan, last summer, I came across an interesting relic, a hydroelectric installation at the bottom of town in the historic mill district. Some research showed the old dynamo was installed in 1900 and probably operated until the 1930s. Fascinated, I spent a satisfying hour studying it, impressed by its clever design. Allegan’s industrial past rested on its
location beside the fast-flowing Kalamazoo River, and early inhabitants dammed the stream to provide power for sawmills and manufacturing. At the turn of the 20th century they installed hydroelectric power,
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using a 12-foot drop from the reservoir to provide plenty of energy to spin the six-foot rotor. A wide, flat-leather belt, wrapped around a sheave on the rotor’s circumference, drove a smaller permanent-magnet generator that provided exciter current to the rotor windings. This created a magnetic field and the dynamo produced substantial current, enough to power the town in the days when municipal electricity mostly went to lighting. Smaller belts drove lubrication and cooling systems, and operated the big weir that controlled water flow to the impeller. Hidden under massive concrete slabs, a stairwell led down to a maintenance pit beneath the installation. A nearby building housed the controls, relays and switchgear, remnants of which still are visible through grimy windows. A shed protected the dynamo from the weather, and
operators no doubt had to stand duty 24 hours a day to regulate its output. If one of those drive belts snapped the whole thing was shut down to make repairs, and residents simply waited until the power came back up. It was part of life then. The town’s energy needs grew, and in 1930 a taller dam was built a short distance downstream, equipped with additional hydroelectric installations. They still operate, although the area long ago outgrew their ability to provide sufficient power and now relies heavily on power from the grid. The old dynamo, outdated, fell into disuse. Located in an
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out-of-the-way spot, it sat mostly unnoticed until now. Small hydropower installations dotted America in the
opening decades of the 20th century, providing electricity for towns across the nation. Any town or city with access to a river or stream with reliable flow could install generators. In the days before a national grid and universal electrification, residents pointed with pride to their dynamos providing clean electricity using the energy of water and gravity. It’s an idea whose time
has come again. When I last examined the Allegan dynamo someone had attended to it, throwing a tarp over the top. The town council has authorized a study to determine whether hydropower at that location would be feasible again, most likely using new technology. I doubt if the old generator is repairable after 70 years in the elements with the rotor chained fast, but who knows? It was built to last, and with some heavy equipment and determination that big rotor could be lifted out and refurbished. Automatic controls and independent drives would replace those ancient, failure-prone flat belts,and the installation could be wired into the grid to once again churn out abundant energy. The dam currently provides flood control, but mostly it forms a reservoir that’s
Small hydropower installations dotted America in the opening decades of the 20th century, providing electricity for towns across the nation.
the backdrop for an attractive and popular riverfront public area. Might as well put it to practical use as well. In today’s world of fossil energy derived from ever-more-
expensive sources or subject to political upheaval and e Turn forward to p 112
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phc december 2011
www.phcnews.com
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