Date:         Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:52:53 -0400
Reply-To:     Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Subject:      Re: me too (solar)
Comments: To: Marius Strom <marstrom@MICROSOFT.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <F64E4C16A120A148A007EAAE525AC51639A63208@TK5EX14MBXC127.redmond.corp.microsoft.com>
Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII

The turbine mounts to the car...after a fashion. What I have is a collapsable base. You put the base on the ground and put one of the tires of your vehicle on it. Then you insert the pole and turbine, pivot it up and lock it in place. The pole is a telescoping pole. Expands to about 10 meters, about 3 meters collapsed (it fits inside the van when collapsed, though I'm hoping to craft up some support brackets so as to toss it on the roof for the long haul.)

Turbine itself is one of the Air X units rated for up to 400 watts.

I've got some 6 gauge cable that comes out of it to three powerpole connectors (two together, third separate) . I added a 4th utility on the side of the westy with a pair of powerpole connectors in it that goes in to the ammeter/circuit breaker and battery panel. The third powerpole connection from the turbine is for a ground circuit. I can hook that up to a water pipe if one is near by, or hammer in a copper ground stake.


Some places aren't windy, and that's what the solar panel is for. Some places are windy, (and I'm usually not under trees in those situations anyway.) So the turbine works well.

Perhaps, unlike some folk, my Westy is my "tent". When camping I don't stay all day in my tent. I'm out trying to do other activities, so my "tent" needs to be locked down so my articles don't grow little feet.

Sometimes my "camping" involves canoeing, and my Westy is the transportation to put ins/take outs, so again, portability is more of a concern in those situations.


On Jun 28, 2011, at 7:16 PM, Marius Strom wrote:

> All that said - I'm interested in hearing more about your wind setup, Kim. I've considered the same, as we are often camping in windy areas here along the northwest coasts. Does your turbine mount to the car, or is it freestanding?