Odd Charging Ideas
Question. Would hooking an alternator up to a squirrel cage style fan and mounting it on top of my bus provide wattage to hook to a charge controller for a battery bank and thus utilize the not "free" but endless supply of wind? I understand drag and that there is no such thing as free energy. Not my hope. But... given I don't think the added wind resistance will greatly increase my fuel consumption on the bus, could it be an additional way of providing charging capability for my electrical system. I know alternators are not battery chargers but if I have a charge controller, a box that can take in a fluctuating amount of wattage and create the ideal conditions for charging a battery, is this a cost effiecient way of charging batteries. I am likewise thinking of adding a second alternator to the engine and using the engine belt drive, again pulling load from the engine and increasing fuel consumption. Not sure if it is a waste of time. Guess the big question is can the blower motor + wind resistance against the blades produce enough torque to spin the alternator? Thoughts?
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