Anyone have any knowledge/experience on micro hydro setups?

[knighty]

I think they'll put up a fight when you're tying to get the dints out... but for that price it's worth a go

 

[minimutly]

The system Farside suggests is, I assume, completely isolated from the grid so no danger to upstream lines people.

"The grid" ? Which grid is this then? If the OP can build it without the Authorities getting involved all power to him, but letsnot confuse water rights with the electricity grid here, different hoops to jump through, I would suggest the electric ones are the easier, and that's the only "grid" as far as I know..

 

[J1nx]

This would be dodgy at best, dangerous in other words...
The point being, if the grid fails, your generator has to disconnect - for safety reasons (if the grid failure is a local short you will be directly "across it", if it's remote and someone ends up working on it they could be killed. If there is a G59 type of relay it should disconnect the system.
Oddly, the simple asynchronous generator takes care of itself, in that in an open circuit fault the current goes to zero, thereby generation collapses. Adding capacitors (ie making 3 phase motors work on single phase) can override this, maintaining the current - so you really, legally need a G59/99 relay, if its mains connected.

"The grid" ? Which grid is this then? If the OP can build it without the Authorities getting involved all power to him, but letsnot confuse water rights with the electricity grid here, different hoops to jump through, I would suggest the electric ones are the easier, and that's the only "grid" as far as I know..

Yes, I think the grid you mention is the electrical grid?

However Farside suggested an off-grid solution for heating. The water authorities are indeed a different issue all together but that’s not what you warned him of?