A series of 7 bi-directional tidal turbine metal rotor models were manufactured and tested. A rotor testing apparatus was built using an off-the-shelf propeller dynamometer. Configuration, testing set-up, calibration of the apparatus and data acquisition details are described. Influences of Reynolds number, pitch ratio, pitch distribution and solidity, on hydrodynamic performance, were made and are presented. In addition to other findings, a rotor with a solidity of 0.4 produced the highest power output. The increase in power coefficient from a solidity of 0.2 to 0.4 and 0.6 to 0.4, is 14% and 16%, respectively. This indicates that for this kind of bi-directional turbine, a relatively larger solidity of about 0.4 than most installed turbine rotors maybe a better choice in terms of power output. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.