Portable Power Unit Driven By Sun, Wind

Portable Power Unit Driven By Sun Wind ENERGY Miscellaneous “I like plugging into the sun and wind when I’m out on a job ” says Steven Rundquist about his portable wind and solar-powered generator system And it’s a great fit for his timber frame construction business When he pulls into a remote site without electricity it doesn’t take long to power up He raises the 400-watt wind turbine on a telescoping pipe unloads two 135-watt solar panels and hooks everything up to four 220 amp-hour 6-volt AGM batteries wired in series The batteries power an Outback 3 500-watt AC inverter     “The generator will keep up with the needs of a two-man crew pretty much all day long day in and day out ” Rundquist says     Based in Colorado he works in many remote areas He grew tired of listening to a gas generator all day and told Mel Wright his friend and co-worker at the time that he would like a quieter option     Wright did some research and put the system together for Rundquist about 5 years ago It’s been working well ever since     Correctly sizing everything together was the biggest challenge Wright says For Rundquist the inverter was the main focus     “He has a $2 500 European chain mortiser tool and he didn’t want to damage that ” Wright says “We knew he’d pull a lot of amps with his power tools and he didn’t want to hurt them ”     The quality Outback 3 500-watt inverter ensures clean power and was worth the $2 000 cost they paid for it     Altogether the setup cost about $4 000 and Wright estimates it would cost about the same today as some parts have gone up but solar panels have dropped substantially in price     Rundquist notes that with more than 300 days of sunshine Colorado is a natural place for solar power And when the sun doesn’t shine there’s usually wind so the batteries can retain power for the inverter to produce 30 amps of continuous AC power He has rarely had to use hand tools or a gas generator for backup     For information about putting a system together Wright suggests going to www builditsolar com and also reading Home Power Magazine     “I’m surprised how well it works and how simple it is ” Rundquist says     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Steven Rundquist Brewster Timber Frame Co Timbercrafters 701 Pecan Dr Bellvue Colo 80512 ph 970 493-7682

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