Meet the portable wind turbine for campers, RVers, backpackers, wilderness researchers, or anyone who needs a bit of USB power in the great outdoors.
Weighing three pounds, or just under 1.5 kilos, Shine was launched via Kickstarter last year, and on Indiegogo last week, and has already raised over $355,000 ($275,000 CAD) in the latest round of crowdfunding.
To use Shine, you simple deploy a tripod and stick it into the ground with tensioning cables, and then mount the turbine on top, plugging your device into the underbelly where it can receive up to 40 watts.
Because the turbine spins into the wind, it doesn’t matter from which direction the breeze is coming. Power will always be produced.
Shine is manufactured by Aurea Technologies based out of Nova Scotia, who paid meticulously close attention to materials and design to get the weight of the device down to as little as possible. If you’ve ever met a serious backpacker and got them talking about weight and space saving, you’ll have heard all about why that matters.
Necessitating a battery that takes up a third of the weight, the other components had to be seriously light—including turbine blades made from polycarbonate reinforced plastic, which fold out from the body, and an aluminum tripod.
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Aurea decided to pivot from their original plans of making miniature turbines that could be built into building facades. Interested campers and adventurers can preorder now at “40% off retail”, buying one for $324 ($418 CAD) with an estimated shipping date of October 2022.
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