Wind Power - Personal and Portable

I thought this was pretty cool, the Ventus....

Ventus is a folding wind power station capable as a portable alternative energy source designed for camping or scientific expedition in the wilds. Sergej Kuckir, the Ventus concept designer, is inspired by ‘Savonius’ type of wind turbines, the system concept features a vertical axis wind turbine, turbine mast and batteries that could be folded and packed in a tube just 10cm in diameter, weighing approximately 4kg.
The ideal application area would be somewhere with plenty of wind resources, such as high at the mountains or perhaps shore line or bay area. The Ventus concept is designed to generate up to 400W renewable electric power, which could be stored in on-board batteries for later use.

thecoolgadgets.com...

Of course this only works where there is significant wind, but it seems it would be a nice piece of equipment to have for either recreation or survival. Get one of these and a small portable solar panel and you have a decent, portable survival package.
400 Watts, not bad, and batteries that store a charge....cool.

spec

We had a survival thread here on ATS this would be good in.

I cannot find who sells this or how much it is but I bet it's not cheap. Someone needs to make these things really cheap and also cheap solar systems so anyone can get ample power anywhere.

Just think.. if everyone could set these up in their back yards to power their houses with, they could give the greedy electric companies a run for their money.

In fact.. make the electric company pay them. In the USA if you produce more electricity than is coming into your power line, the electric company has to buy it back from you.

thats awesome, but its just a concept?

id buy one if it were real.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


I can't seem to find one for purchasing either, whassup?
I'll keep digging and post if I find.

WHODAT!!!

This is basically a savonius rotor,and they are quite easy and cheap to make.The one shown on this thread looks expensive and before you rush out and buy one ,dont expect to much or you will be disappointed .400 watts sounds like a big claim and doubt it will put out when you put any load on it that except in maybe cyclonic conditions.link to savonius rotor
www.macarthurmusic.com...

[edit on 12-8-2010 by 12voltz]

Its just about what i want when i get a motorhome to live in full time.

I plan to put solar panels on the roof and put a 2 to 6 wind turbines on it.
But i want wind turbines that i can take apart quickly and store inside when traveling and that does not take a strong tower just a post i can mount on the side of the motor home.

In the southwest US where i plan to travel there are many areas i can just pull off on a side road and park if i have a power system that does not need a park hookup to power the motor home and i don't want to run a generator and the fuel cost that go with a generator.

I have a few people that will let me park on there property as a caretaker for free but they have no power as they to are off the grid.

[edit on 12-8-2010 by ANNED]

reply to post by ANNED


Just some advice ,spend more on solar panels and batteries and use wind as a backup unless you are going to park your motorhome on top of a hill with no trees around,and forget about taking your microwave oven or any high power appliances and get a small DC fridge.

reply to post by ANNED


be careful of overkill. i'm a full time r.v.er, 3 good deep cycles, one good solar panel and one of these is more than enough power for my needs.

wind power

Originally posted by 12voltz
reply to post by ANNED

 

Just some advice ,spend more on solar panels and batteries and use wind as a backup unless you are going to park your motorhome on top of a hill with no trees around,and forget about taking your microwave oven or any high power appliances and get a small DC fridge.

I know but you can only put so many panels on top of a motor home.
the only high power appliance will be a swamp cooler no a ac unit
the fridge will be run off propane.
Many of the places i plan to go are in the desert southwest or mountains and in the summer you have winds that start in the afternoon and blow till 2 to 3 in the morning from the desert heat.
In the winter you have wind from storm fronts passing through.
In the winter when you have the storms passing through its cloudy But that is when you have good winds for the turbines.

I worked as a construction electrician on large solar plants and have lived in the desert southwest most of my life.

reply to post by ANNED


i do the az. and n.m high country all summer, desert in the winter, and the in between high desert, juniper country spring and fall.
have been for 20 years.
through my inverter with my set up i have no problem running small power tools and stuff pretty much all day.
propane fridge and stove and everything else is 12 volt.
i've used the same set up on cabins also.

reply to post by rubbertramp


Dude that Air X-12 is sweet! You could use 3 or four of them for a regular house as supplementary energy, if you are in a wind prone spot. But I like the idea of having just one for mobility and simplicity.
Thanks for the tips

Here are the specifications:
www.wholesalesolar.com...

peace

reply to post by 12voltz

That is a great idea voltz! Have you seen any in action?
So could one use these to gather energy, "at the top of a hill" and then use batteries for later that evening?
I want to try and put one together now.
Thanks for the valuable info

peace

[edit on 13-8-2010 by speculativeoptimist]

reply to post by speculativeoptimist

The idea with wind and solar is you collect energy and store it in your batteries for use when you need it ,Deep cycle batteries are best because they can handle being drained and recharged many more times than ordinary car batteries but they do cost more.I havent seen one in the flesh,i am only using production 3 bladed turbines at the moment ,but you can make the savonius rotor by cutting plastic or steel drums in half of any size depending how big you want your project,
Look here for inspiration
www.google.com.ph... esult_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDoQsAQwAw&biw=1366&bih=641

reply to post by 12voltz

Thanks, I knew about batteries for solar, but was unsure about them for the small wind unit.

spec