Pembangkit listrik tenaga mikrohidro merupakan pembangkit listrik skala kecil yang menggunakan air sebagai penggeraknya dan penggerak mula adalah turbin. Sistem pembangkit ini sangat tepat digunakan di pedesaan karena sistem ini mudah dibuat, menghasilkan daya listrik yang cukup besar dan biaya pembuatan yang lebih relatif murah. Atas dasar diatas maka perlu dirancang suatu turbin yang mendukung sistem pembangkit ini, diantaranya adalah Turbin Aliran Silang. Untuk merancang sebuah turbin air agar tidak terjadi kesalahan dalam perancangan (seperti hal-nya biaya pembuatannya) maka dilakukan perancangan desain. Sebuah perancangan desain Turbin Aliran Silang dirancang  dengan debit (Q) = 1.2 m3/s, head (H) = 17 m dengan efisiensi 0,75. Spesifikasi teknik utama dari hasil perancangan turbin adalah diameter runner (D) = 510 mm,putaran poros turbin 471 rpm dengan kecepatan spesifik 61.33 rpm daya air 200.124 kW dan memproduksi daya listrik sebesar 100.86kW.

In this work, the effects of geometry transition of the upstream channel on the performance of an undershot water wheel were investigated. For that purpose, we carried out experiments using an undershot water wheel model with a diameter of Ø=480 mm, the width of l=100 mm, the number of blades of 12, and the radius of blade curvature of R=170 mm, which was installed on a flow channel with the width of 250 mm. The upstream channel was modified by installing flow guides with different entry angles (α=30o, α=45o, and α=60o), and their effects were investigated by measuring the mechanical power of the water wheel and capturing the flow pattern at the upstream of the water wheel, under the flow rates of Q=10 l/s and Q=14 l/s. The experimental results show that the higher the flow rate, the stronger the effects of the flow guides on the performance of the water wheel. Under the considered experimental conditions, the highest performance was achieved for the flow guide with entry angles of α=30o at the flow rate of Q=14 l/s, for which the water wheel produces mechanical power of 22 Watt with an efficiency of 40,37%. It can be observed that the flow guide with the gradual transition (lower entry angle) introduces a more uniform flow pattern that results in a higher water wheel performance, while the flow guide with the sharp transition (higher entry angle) introduces the crossing flow pattern that reduces the performance of the water wheel.