We have a canal running by our house, with a great flow of water in it nearly the entire year.  Just a guess, but it probably runs pasta couple hundred houses from its origin in the southern French Alps to the Mediterranean Sea. So it  seemed to me that this could be a great source of electricity, especially for those who already have solar panels so that could be augmented – two sustainables are better than one!

So I started doing some research for a product I was sure there would be hundreds of – I mean, they teach you how to make a water wheel to light a bulb in junior high school.  I couldn’t find ANY commercially available water wheels that I’d call “personal”.  By Personal, I mean that you could order online pay under $1000, and start generating electricity in a few days.

I did find this one, that can be put in a river, but it’s quite large and designed to be a power source for a town, not a single home.  It’s made by Practical Action, and you can read more about it in a  technical paper.

So, please readers, if you know of any personal water wheels available (or you want to make it rich by developing one), please let me know!!