im thinking if thier is a weather condition where sun is blocked out, say, ice age conditions ect ect... solar will be good, but if their is no sun your screwed, this is nice way to get past it, also it cooks. So good for multi use, and its mall + light so if trying to keep low profile i think it will fit the bill
if theres snow and you got solar cells your cool, you can build a snow reflector to capture more light, after all you can get blinded by the suns reflection off of snow! so it stands to reason that you could use the snow as a reflector, possibly even as a heat reflector
(18 July 2012, 21:43)David075 Wrote: [ -> ]Are there any wind up power sources on the market?
There are little ones like this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/EMERGENCY-CHARGE...612&sr=8-8
but unfortunately they aren't very practical. You need to wind them for an hour or more for useful amounts of power and that's just not reasonable. The thermopile stove has the advantage that it charges 'in the background', so even if it takes an hour or more you were probably going to keep the fire going for that long anyway.
I'm looking for a decent sized wind-up charger but I've not found one yet.
If the sun is blocked out for any length of time we will be deep frozen.
Think how cold it gets overnight, then imagine the sun not warming the place up all day, How cold will that get. Think Alaska and its long nights.
Our stored fuel will only last so long, we won't be able to grow anything, that includes trees to burn.
An event that blocks out the sun for years is only going to leave those in nice nuclear powered bunkers.
Keep it simple - 4 things - Lighting only
I have posted and built what I preach - Simple Calculations !!
Do not worry too much about Loss . . If the Battery is Low the Charge Controller lets you know - Next day Charge the Battery Bank, and if need be ... get out the jump leads