[northernontario]

cheap in the short term (buy a couple gallons of gas/diesel for a $300 gas/diesel generator), or cheap in long term (buy a $2000+ windmill or water turbine) that provides free electricity as long as there is wind, or your river has water?

 

[northernontario]

What do the turbines have so that they won't get clogged up by water debris floating around?

There is a very similar thread already started... http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f17/mini-hydro-anyone-donig-472/

It links to a website that talks about mini-hydro electric generation.

Take a drive out to a hydro electric station. The smaller (and more remote), the better. Things tend to be easier to see. There are grates to catch large debris (logs, sticks, etc), and they design the systems to handle anything below a certain size. The smaller the turbine, the finer your filtering needs to be.