I should really post an entire blog dedicated to the installation and setup of our new alternative energy system aboard Andiamo; however, I'll have to do it another time. This blog is just a quick note about my kids new addiction - the amp meter! In short, we recently installed a new wind generator and about 300 watts of solar power. Before leaving, I had just enough time to connect the wind gen and the big dodger mounted solar panel. Thanks to the guys at e-marine in florida, we were able to install a great custom panel that contols and monitors our wind and solar equipment. The panel includes the solar controller, a dedicated display for the incoming sun juice, a set of circuit breakers for the wind gen and solar panels, a dedicated amp meter for the wind gen and the run/stop switch. Its a great little setup and tells you in an instant how much you are "sticking it to the man" by getting free energy from the wind and sun.

Anway, to make a short story really long, I connected the solar panel at 4pm under overcast skies and rain in the Pacific Northwest. BAM! 2 amps incoming baby! I was thrilled. Later that night, Tami woke me at 0130 and told me the wind gen was working it's butt off so I went to check on it. Sure enough, 6 amps incoming from the fresh breeze outside. I was stoked! So, to get to my point...After I left on Wednesday, Tami sent me a report of sunny skies from Olympia. She introduced the kids to the amp meters and told them what the numbers meant, how higher numbers were good when they were going INTO the batteries and that the more sun and wind we got, the more they could charge their Nintendos and watch TV. That's all it took for them. They were both glued to the amp meter shouting out numbers like stock brokers on the trading floor. "I saw 8.1" "I just saw 7" "wow, it just went to 9"!!! They were so excited. It was like we had just given them crack and they wanted more!

It may not seem like much, but if you can get your kids excited about 12 volt battery system management, then you are really getting serious about cruising. Now, since we had to mount the monitoring panel near the floor of Christians room, we can just ask the kids to give us a status update. Pretty soon, they will be giving me a full report of something like: "12 amps of sun, 6 amps of wind, batteries at 98%, refrigerator is running, nothing else is on, all systems GO, hoist the main....etc. etc." One can only hope.

So, as soon as I can, I'll get a full post together with pictures and all discussing our wind and solar install and some lessons learned.