BRC wrote: >This might not only supply our power needs, but also virtually eliminate >obesity and various health problems, like stroke and heart attack. >I'm really sorry I thought of this. G'Day, I once tried to keep a light bulb alight at the science museum in the UK by pedalling an exercise bike. Hard work!! 200 Watts per very fit person over several hours comes to mind. And I tend to eat a fair bit more when I exercise. However, the fuel to run a person (food) is amongst the least efficient and most resource intensive around - so health and fitness are a better argument for gyms, kayak and bikes than fuel and resource economy. But I guess if you're going to ride an exercise bike it might as well turn a generator! Darryl wrote >they will not pay for his excess power because an insufficient >percentage of the hardware is of Canadian origins. So he gives the >excess power away -- and they don't seem to be complaining about >getting it. Darryl, thats a really frustrating situation. He's not just being forced to give away the energy, but giving away renewable energy. Many countries in the world pay high premiums for consumers that feed "GreenPower" back into the grid. Re the wind turbine. They are extremely cost effective in a windy rural setting but not in city environments, even the vertical axis turbines have a long way to go unless they are large and installed on tall buildings. However, as Craig says solar PV (and more importantly thermal) is very well suited for cities and buildings and getting cheaper every few months. Craig wrote >I suspect we all have GPS units now. Most of us carry some form >of communications when we paddle: VHF or cell phone (or both), most likely. Craig, I'm refurbishing all my gear at present as most of its fallen apart after 12 years and I'm seriously looking at installing solar on my kayak for maintaining battery charge on all the gear I intend to buy in the next few months for some of my longer trips. It seems as if GPS has become simple enough that my less than perfect eyesight can use it on a kayak. And NiMH rechargeable batteries are now sufficiently long lived that its worth using them in some of my equipment. Selecting equipment that uses AA cells seems to be a logical first step, although I do have a concern that some VHF and GPS models won't work properly with the reduced volatge of NiMH rechargeable AA batteries. Has anyone fitted out their kayaks with solar cells and used them to recharge a variety of equipment? I'm just starting to design a system.and considering whether to use a foldup solar charger or panels built in to the deck of the kayak. All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Oct 19 2009 - 14:54:07 PDT
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