[Mister_X]

Micro Hydro is a bit of a misnomer here, the link leads to a device thats more like mid sized hydro.

In the early 90's I was installing/servicing micro hydro systems here in rural Northern California, on properties off the grid where there was no sun due to all the redwood trees.

We were using tiny Pelton style turbine wheels, and our systems produced about 500 watts 24/7 (10-12 Kilowatt Hours) on the small streams in our coastal mountainous area.

Once the infrastructure was built (dam, penstock, base for the turbine, wiring, control system, etc), the systems were rock solid reliable, and required minimal yearly maintenance.

The one major problem was that they were VERY LOUD, so couldn't be near the living quarters because it was so annoying.

Eventually, it became nearly impossible to legally install them in our County due to Fish & Wildlife Regulations concerning the damming of waterways, no matter how small ("Won't someone think of the salmon";-).

Not sure how loud this new turbine is, but due to County and State regulations it seems to me that this so called "fish friendly" turbine will still have very limited locations where it can be installed, at least here in California.