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ALTERNATE
ENERGY |
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Hydro-electric power The hydro-electric power uses the driving force of the water to activate a generator. Used for decades, small stations of productions have decrease very sharply during the creation of State monopolies on the electricity.
It will soon be possible to produce and to consume on the spot the electricity produced in a comparable cost to the conventional electricity without much impact on the source of the water thus with weak incidence on the environment. For a complete piece of information about the electric installations, you will need to read the cycle of production, preservation and consumption of the electrical energy  The power of the water is also used to stock water in tank placed higher than the source thanks to the pump “Bélier”.
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Liens utiles
 Alternatives Energétiques Alternatives Energetiques, le développement durable au sens propre. www.alternatives-energetiques.com/ Canadian Tire Canadian Solar Industries Association IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme |
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Advantages of the hydro-electric power The production costs once the installation is finished, are very low. The global source of energy is unlimited and its utilization consumption does not affect the source, that is the water itself. Careful precautions must be taken on each site. Inconveniences of the hydro-electric power The installation can be a little more complex than the solar energy and the wind turbine if we want to minimize its impact on the environment. No more than 20% of the flow must be taken. 
In cold countries, the stream can freeze and no more allow to produce some electricity, and can even cause damages in the installation. |
The exploitation of the hydro-electricity was often made large-scale with the construction of gigantic dam and ecological impacts which are far from being unimportant. Today a new market is born with the development of generator of very small capacity requiring only a small water flow to work. We talk about micro-hydro-electric and pico-hydro-electric installations.
Very old system consuming no other energy that the water flow itself. The results are surprising: 20 % of the water which circulates in the pump is propelled up to 30 times higher than the pump. There are still 2 manufacturers of these pumps “belier”: in France : 
The regularity of the water flow allows a very effective installation with few spare batteries.