Is it possible to build a water tower that will provide enough pressure to run an electricity generator? A water pump can be used to send water up to the tower. The water pump can be powered by solar panels. Alternatively the water pump could also be powered by the electricity produced from the generator.
The water tower can hold 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of water. Could this have enough pressure to send the water down a pipe and pass it through an electric generator where it will cause a turbine to rotate and produce electricity?
Once the water passes through the generator it can be redirected back to the water pump. The water will then be pumped back to the water tower making it a water circulation system. I would like to find out if it is physically possible to produce more power from the pressure stored in the water tower than it is required to pump it up. If solar panels are used to power the water pump, is it theoretically possible to produce more electric power using this method?
I am not familiar with any similar projects but I am looking to see if this setup will have the capacity to produce enough electricity to make it a feasible project.
Best Answer
Yes you can use the falling water to make electricity - that's how hydroelectric dams work. But if you are using power to pump water back up then you will always use more energy to pump it up than you get back from falling down. Otherwise you have a perpetual motion machine
The only way it makes sense is if you need to pump the water up for other reasons anyway - ie you are using this as drinking water storage and just want to recover some energy - or you can use cheap electricity to pump it up and generate a smaller amount of expensive electricity when it comes back down.
These are commonly used to balance out changes in demand - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricity