Anyone who is a trekking enthusiast knows that besides the expiration of energy, food, and water resources, your smartphone’s battery depletion is also quite a problem. Moreover, if you are in for a long haul, portable battery pack and solar charger are also not enough. It is quite a terrifying thought that you are in the middle of nowhere, and now you cannot even contact or communicate with anyone in case of any emergency. Well, Nils Ferber, the École Cantonale d’Art Lausanne’s design student, encountered a similar problem during one of his climbs. He came up with a solution that is now being featured in various newspapers.
Nils Ferber developed what he calls Micro Wind Turbine, a solution to all your low battery woes. He came up with the design concept after contacting some mountaineers, climbers, film-makers, and expedition leaders. Ferber collected data and valuable narratives about their experiences and estimates on battery requirements during some specific trails and conditions. During this exercise, he found out that almost all of the climbers were usually using solar panels, but faced problems on days without any sunshine.
Hence, this idea of a wind turbine to charge phones instantly attracted everyone, but there was still the problem of weight, pack size, and ease of use of the technology. Ferber had this in mind, so he created a turbine that weighs almost 2 pounds, and satisfies all the portability concerns.
Ferber also claims that his design is 40 percent lighter than its closest competitor, and can be folded down to the size of an umbrella or a trekking pole. It has been designed to minimize the setting up effort and time, thanks to a telescopic shaft that unfolds the wind-catching blades, just like opening and closing of an umbrella.
The turbine can generate 5 W in 11 mph wind, and also has a 24Wh battery pack that can store energy for later usage. Ferber claims that there is no competitor in the market at the moment who has produced a wind turbine of similar scale.
All other comparable concepts are made up of many complex parts and produce an insignificant output. Thus, his design is unique and valuable in this aspect.
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