Okay… this tickles my inner geek.
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Not sure how practical it is, but I definitely like the geekiness of it. If their generator does actually produce the 5V at 1A they claim (5W) I will in all likelihood purchase one when they start commercial production. But my inner skeptic is speaking to me…
For comparison:
“The Jack Rabbit is a special low-speed, high-output alternator mounted in a heavy-duty, oil- filled cast aluminum housing with triple shaft seals. Originally designed for towing behind seismic sleds for oil exploration, this marine-duty unit is ideal for home power generation near a reasonably fast moving stream.”
http://ecoresorts.net/hydro/jackrabbit-prod.htm
This site,
indicates that it would take a stream flowing at 50 gpm with a drop of 1 foot to produce 5 W. That flow rate would be the rate through the impeller.
Further references:
http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/microhydropower-systems
http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/12/how-much-dam-energy-can-we-get/
http://rockyhydro.com/Free_Micro-Hydro_Calculator.php
“Game changer”, really?! Tell me that after you have been sitting on the side of the stream for 5 hours waiting for your phone to charge. Didn’t he really want to charge his camera battery?
Yeah, I threw up in my mouth a little when I heard that cliche. Even so, this might be practical if you reach base camp (with a stream nearby) and want to charge your batteries overnight while you sleep.
In terms of a camp site, I have heard good reports of these camp stoves that use waste heat to generate electricity for USB charging.
Like the above hydro generator, I don’t know how effective these are. But also like the hydro generator, it is on my list to pick one up just to play with.
Personally, I like the small folding solar panels for the same purpose. I have a 10W panel that isn’t much larger than a letter size sheet of paper, and an 18W panel that is about twice that size. Both can easily charge my phone (or more likely my USB portable battery system).
The critical reviews of the Biolite are not favorable:
I’m thinking that the hydrogenerator would be more practical, in areas with decent streams.
Solar works OK, if you can leave them open in the daylight. But, when I’m camping, I’m usually using my equipment in the daylight. I charge my stuff at night (generally, from my car’s utility port, aka “cigarette lighter”).
I’ve seen some of those reviews; however, I talked with a couple who were using one and they raved about it.
I use the panel attached to my pack or bike (whichever is appropriate for what I am doing) and charge a usb battery pack. I then use that pack to charge whatever device I need. Generally, I only need to ‘top off my phone’ since it is generally left off when I am camping. Mostly I charge AA’s (or my Canon’s batteries) which I use in my GPS. And before I switch to a dynamo based lighting system on my bike, I used the solar to recharge my lights for my bike.
My battery use would be too heavy. I’m capable of shooting enough photos to deplete a standard Canon battery in a few hours, certainly within a few days. Then, I have several GB of photos (plus videos) to download to my main storage (probably a netbook, but I also have an old Archos G5100), and that would need charging, eventually. Of course, I also have a phone, and batteries for my lanterns. I sleep on an air mattress, so that needs an electric pump (I have both battery- and car-powered pumps).
I started photography using a large format camera (4"x5"), which if you have ever used one you know trains a person to take a fair bit of time composing a shot before shooting. In the day, a busy photo day might mean I’d come back with 10 shots. Even with my transition to digital, I still don’t shoot more then 200-300 shots in a busy day. Which is easily covered by what my 18W panel can charge in the same time frame.
I also have four of the batteries for my 40D, which means that even if I don’t see a lot of sunlight for a day or two I still have a good buffer or if I am only going to be our for the weekend I don’t need the charger at all. The nice thing is that the same charger I use with the solar panel for those Canon batteries will work from a Car lighter socket as well. So I can charge the batteries much faster if I am traveling between the ‘golden’ hours.
In terms of faster charging, all it takes is more panel area. You could use one, two, or more of those folding goal zero style 20W panels to recharge a spare almost as fast as your depleting your current if the day is reasonably sunny.
Whenever I hear platitudes like that, all I think of is this scene from Silicon Valley:
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I used to drive my Photography professor nuts with all the photos I shot (and he was supposed to review). We were riding in the school van during one of our class outings, as we discussed how I always kept my camera in burst-fire mode. He had just commented to me, “You have probably 100 photos for me, now,” when I saw an interesting little building alongside the road. Up went my camera and I fired off several shots, then looked at the image counter. “There’s 103.”
“A-a-a-u-u-g-h!” was all he replied.
The reason I shoot that way is, I’m not shooting just for art. I’m shooting for documentation, which means recording everything, from as many angles as possible. I do carry lots of spare batteries with me, all the time.
When I drive, I always shoot video, sometimes from multiple cameras at one time. My car charger can barely keep up with me.
There are a couple of issues I can see. 400grams is VERY heavy for packing. Most people I know try and pack with less than 20 pounds (10kilos) of gear if possible.
The generation capacity is very low, one could not really run say lighting and charge a device. I know this sounds lie it is asking a lot, but not really. Having lighting at night in the woods is essential, I usually use candle lanterns for that due to weight and fuel requirements.
Today there are many backpacks with built in solar charging units. For a camera or usb device this is certainly enough to maintain a charge or recharge for use later. The weight and power capability of solar panels for this would seem much more appropriate to backpacking and there is no water source required, let alone at a given flow rate.
Great idea on the wrong scale. I know MANY people who live near streams and with the right amount of power they could reduce the grid need if the output was scaled accordingly.