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as early as 100 B.C. the ancient greeks used a water wheel to grind corn
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in the early 1800's turbines slowly replace dthe water wheel due to the higher effiency of the turbine
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in wisconsin the first hydropower station was created. it produced 12.5 killowatts of power an hour. which will power about 800 laptops on sleep mode for an hour.
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the united states largest hydropower dam was contructed in washington state on the columbia river
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in 1945 hydroelectricity produced 94% of canada's energy
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currently the worlds largest hydroelectric dam
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water in a river or resevoir is damed and water is forced into underwater intakes through control gates. through penstock or pipesthrough turbines that turn generator coils creating energy that travels through transformers that send enrgy to a powerhouse thta distributes the energy through powerlines. the water is released down river
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many reasons why hydropower dams werent being built before was because of the impact on the inviroment that killed fish and rivers eroded. a new design has been made in pakistan. this design consists of many small dams and chanels. this way there wouldnt be any worry of a dam breaking and flooding.
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today a small hydroelectric generator can be bought for around $1400. these produce around .25-2.5 killowatts. the most popular one today is the pelton wheel.
