I’m wanting to put up a node on a pole, but my yard is absolutely chocked full of trees, and so solar is just not possible here. Has anyone tried to see if they could power a mesh node with the wind? I’m thinking perhaps the wind could charge a 5V battery, which would then keep the mesh node running.

Edit: From what I can tell, they do make ones capable of charging USB devices, but only if you are on like a bicycle or in a moving vehicle. And they’re just made of plastic, so they wouldn’t be durable for outdoor use for prolonged amounts of time.

Actual legitimate wind turbines cost like $100 and would generate something like a kilowatt worth of power, which is way too much.

Edit 2: I’m definitely not the kind of person to be designing this because I don’t have the skills or the patience or the capabilities to do so. But it might be something interesting for somebody else to pick up.

  • Curious_Canid@piefed.ca
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    3 days ago

    I think this is a great idea. I have a similar situation and ended up putting my repeater at a nearby friend’s house that has better solar access. A small-scale wind system would probably work well in my area.

    Unfortunately, I do suspect it will require someone with real technical chops to make it work. Maybe 3D print a small version of one of the vertical turbines and mount that on a small generator. It will still require some custom circuitry to manage the battery charging.