What's New
Dec. 2007. If you have visited this site before, you will have noticed a new look. In fact, although a lot of the information has been transferred, this is effectively a new site, now hosted on a server at the University of Nottingham. Links have been checked and updated. The number of images on the site has been deliberately limited in order that it is still accessible to those without fast connections.
Please let us have feedback on how the site works (or doesn't work) using the email on the Contacts page.
Oct. 2008. There are some new links and a chart below which shows typical costs of Pico Hydro. We have also updated some links on the "Documents" page and included a link to a recent paper on Mini-grids.
Apr. 2011. The promised Design Guide for Low Head Turbines is now available on the "Documents" page.
Pico hydro News
A report prepared for the World Bank that compares different technology options, concludes that Pico hydro is the lowest cost option available for Off-grid electrical power, as can be seen in the chart below.
Adapted from: "Technical and Economic Assessment of Off-Grid, Mini-Grid and Grid Electrification Technologies – Summary Report" World Bank Energy Unit, September 2006. The final report, published in May 2007, can be found from this link.
An article in the Independent newspaper (Jan 2008) describes an experience of setting up a pico-hydro system in Wales.