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Would love someone experienced with wind turbines to chime in. Generating 2.4A at 5v from "hardly any wind" (8mp/h) would put this in another league to similar

by snares 4y ago

Would love someone experienced with wind turbines to chime in. Generating 2.4A at 5v from "hardly any wind" (8mp/h) would put this in another league to similar consumer options. Any guesses to their "patent-pending" technology?

UI_at_80x24 4y ago
I never said that you'd get 2.4A @ 8mph wind. I just dropped all the other numbers by 1/3rd. I have no idea how fast the wind has to blow to get that level of power output. I would be willing to bet that 8mph wind only gives you ~500mA of power (which is what USB v1.1 operates on), and that fancy internal battery is probably using off-the-shelf circuits so that you can charge phones. This product sells* for $400+ CAD. You can buy several 10,000mAh battery packs for that amount of money, and probably have a lot of juice left over at the end of your camping trip. [Note: I just did some searching and an Anker 20,000mAh powerbank can be bought for $33. So I could buy 10 of them for less cost and probably not need to charge them for a couple of months.] I'm kinda/sorta intrigued. The fundraiser page looks scammy IMHO, and is full of marketing fluff. I go bike-camping. Something like looks less practical then a 100w solar panel, but also more compact. Full sunlight is rare when/where I camp, I'm usually under tree-cover. That makes the solar panel weep, and is practically useless. I have to make compromises to make use of it. (i.e. the edge of a farmers field) This turbine might require different compromises, but the best thing it has going for it; time. I could leave it operating for 2 days giving me 48hrs of charging time, compared to the 3hrs of direct-overhead sunlight I might get while camping. That's 16x the amount of time for 'energy generation'. Even at less then my 1/3rd rate of power, that might charge all of my battery banks. I will wait for them to be built, and field tested by others. I'm not in a rush. *Not shipping yet, but we promise soon! /sarcasm
- rascul 4y ago
  > I go bike-camping. I wonder if the turbine could be attached to the bike in a manner that would generate electricity while you ride.
  - UI_at_80x24 4y ago
    The drag it would induce would make it intolerable.
  - 0_____0 4y ago
    the usual way of generating power on a bike is a front wheel generator hub. consider that a fairly fit cyclist can out 150 to 200 watts continuously. you might not notice 5W missing but you will certainly notice 20W. the 40W rating of this turbine is fully 1/5th of a fit cyclist's continuous power rating.
    - rascul 4y ago
      Oops I wasn't clear. I meant attach it in a way so that the turbine would catch the air as you ride. Not sure how practical it would be.
      - 0_____0 4y ago
        either way the energy comes from the rider.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- tlb 4y ago
  Power of a wind turbine is proportional to the cube of windspeed. So if 28 mph gets you 40 W, 19.4 mph gets you 13 W.
na85 4y ago
>Any guesses to their "patent-pending" technology? I'd wager it's the airfoil and/or the blade construction.

by snares 4y ago

UI_at_80x24 4y ago

I never said that you'd get 2.4A @ 8mph wind. I just dropped all the other numbers by 1/3rd. I have no idea how fast the wind has to blow to get that level of power output. I would be willing to bet that 8mph wind only gives you ~500mA of power (which is what USB v1.1 operates on), and that fancy internal battery is probably using off-the-shelf circuits so that you can charge phones. This product sells* for $400+ CAD. You can buy several 10,000mAh battery packs for that amount of money, and probably have a lot of juice left over at the end of your camping trip. [Note: I just did some searching and an Anker 20,000mAh powerbank can be bought for $33. So I could buy 10 of them for less cost and probably not need to charge them for a couple of months.] I'm kinda/sorta intrigued. The fundraiser page looks scammy IMHO, and is full of marketing fluff. I go bike-camping. Something like looks less practical then a 100w solar panel, but also more compact. Full sunlight is rare when/where I camp, I'm usually under tree-cover. That makes the solar panel weep, and is practically useless. I have to make compromises to make use of it. (i.e. the edge of a farmers field) This turbine might require different compromises, but the best thing it has going for it; time. I could leave it operating for 2 days giving me 48hrs of charging time, compared to the 3hrs of direct-overhead sunlight I might get while camping. That's 16x the amount of time for 'energy generation'. Even at less then my 1/3rd rate of power, that might charge all of my battery banks. I will wait for them to be built, and field tested by others. I'm not in a rush. *Not shipping yet, but we promise soon! /sarcasm

rascul 4y ago
> I go bike-camping. I wonder if the turbine could be attached to the bike in a manner that would generate electricity while you ride.
- UI_at_80x24 4y ago
  The drag it would induce would make it intolerable.
- 0_____0 4y ago
  the usual way of generating power on a bike is a front wheel generator hub. consider that a fairly fit cyclist can out 150 to 200 watts continuously. you might not notice 5W missing but you will certainly notice 20W. the 40W rating of this turbine is fully 1/5th of a fit cyclist's continuous power rating.
  - rascul 4y ago
    Oops I wasn't clear. I meant attach it in a way so that the turbine would catch the air as you ride. Not sure how practical it would be.
    - 0_____0 4y ago
      either way the energy comes from the rider.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
tlb 4y ago
Power of a wind turbine is proportional to the cube of windspeed. So if 28 mph gets you 40 W, 19.4 mph gets you 13 W.

na85 4y ago

>Any guesses to their "patent-pending" technology? I'd wager it's the airfoil and/or the blade construction.