Alternative Energy Forums

Hey there

My family and I are looking at moving to New Zealand in 2010, at which time we hope to build a new family home. My ideal is to build a 'smart house' that is completely off grid and uses the surrounding environment to the best advantage.

I've currently (in Australia) installed solar panels onto our house and we're grid tied - what a learning experience that was!

I've been researching the areas we hope to build in NZ and have found some great lots of land with creeks and streams in the North.

What size dam am I looking at building to generate enough power for a large family home - around 4+ bedrooms and 3+ living spaces? I've dabbled a bit with micro hydro generators, but nothing on that type of scale.

Any ideas are most welcome. I'm looking at building the dam myself. So the smaller the better - but I really have no clue of what I'll be getting myself into.

I'll also be running a wind turbine, and maybe solar panels too... but I'm hoping the hydro turbine will put out enough energy to be our main power source.

Any suggestions, links etc are most welcomed.