Submitted by: Peter via Submit a Kludge!
Form of…clean energy! – Ms. Fix-It
Favorite Comment: Fixer slapchop says, “This is actually Canada’s entire early missile warning system. If an enemy missile is detected, the RCMP and the entire Royal Canadian Two-Canoe Navy can be activated within twenty business days.”
-
-
Copy & paste this:
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-483xl95pmUiaY.gif\")
Go go Gadget solar panel . . . . . .Bong!
ok put the bong down …walk away slowly, pass the lighter to me….
bong as in the sound not the object!………..
Ahaha! I was wondering why if it was solar powered, you needed a lighter too…
That has now been classified as the common *boing*, sir.
“Boing” would be a little more hi-pitched and springy sounding. “Bong” would sound deeper, and would resonate more. There is a difference.
It’s Canadian, it wouldn’t sound deeper. (Now it’s time for some Canucks to mock America. Challenge: to be different this round, make fun of the East Coast, instead of simply poking fun at the South.)
No. one, engage.
Canadian innovation in the realm of renewable energy gives us the first external, solar-hydrogen fuel cell. Corporate spokesman, Mr. Red Green, notes the cells, while still in prototype stage, will allow daytime fuel economy to reach nearly 200 MPG. However, due to wind resistance, fuel economy would drop drastically during hours of darkness. Said Mr. Green “We have to admit, driving at night would be a real drag.”
I see what you did there…
Living in Wisconsin gave me a healthy dose of appreciation for the talents and wisdom of Red Green.
Red Green rules!!!
the batmobile goes green
Yes, bat as in batsh*t
That’s a total sham. Everyone knows there’s no sunlight in Canada.
Yes there is! OK, there is not, but tourists from south aren’t aware of this, so they bring over these fancy solar vehicles
And the terrible thing is, those panels only work when you’re driving north. So they can never get home again..
You mean, they will have to accept cold, lack of sun, white bears walking on the streets AND maple syrup???
doesn’t seem so bad to me!
I agree– last winter, we had too much of the first two items, and the second two could only have made things interesting.
IMHO maple syrup makes things sweeter more than interesting, but hey, what do I know about syrups, white bears on the other hand…
Glen Beck has scared this familty into Canada and off the grid.
I LOLed.
It wasn’t funny.
Actually everything about Glenn Beck is scary or funny,
So Glen Beck scared them into Sarah Palin’s latitude?
Let’s raise the topic of clean energy. It should be very enlightening to hear everyone’s bright ideas!
solar, schmolar, where’s my snowboard?
wow, panels that big, at that latitude, in winter… they must generate, ooh, about as much power in a day as the van’s engine idling for an hour :/
the weight (and drag?) of carting them around probably makes a lumpmobile like that burn up more carbon than they’re actually saving :p
That’s until you realize it’s a camper and they may stay there for a couple weeks.
Unless those are eviction notices plastered on his windows.
I just thought the abandoned vehicle that they did this to had been tagged. Or maybe there hasn’t been enough sunlight to move on, and it’s been assumed as such.
The cops needed a whole week to come up with a masterplan after the passengers electrified the whole car body to avoid intrusions and eviction.
snicker. Suffering from cheap-induced cold here, solar panels on a camper look attractive, feasible. Would they have to be heavy? Some lighter substitute than water?
—wow, panels that big, at that latitude, in winter… they must generate, ooh, about as much power in a day as the van’s engine idling for an hour :/—
Yes, but if the goal of the solar panels is to power DC electrical equipment such as LED lights and a radio during a camp-out, as appears to be the case here, it’s a lot more practical than running the engine.
Can’t even recharge a cell phone with this kind of weather and contraption!
Shouldn’t you be worried about being froze to death instead?
and what will you use to heat the van?
a bonefire underneath the vehicle…
Warning: if you experience bonefire, stop taking medication and see your doctor immediately. Avoid excessive rubbing.
Do you smoke after sex? You may have bonefire.
Bonefire, now thats just classic. So funny I just snorted Southern Comfort all over my desk.
Not a winter camper, I see. You don’t heat the van, you put on clothes.
Re: The points about camp outs and the like.
I’m still pretty certain that a few dollars of fuel for topping off the battery, and maybe a second backup battery to run an inverter with, is going to be cheaper than those monster panels. They do not come cheap. Plus if LEDs and a radio are all you’re bothered about, that’s a trifling amount of power. A small cell would easily cover it. Or maybe just batteries, or wind-up versions.
If you were actually living 24/365 in the camper, in a slightly sunnier clime – and particularly with things like a mini fridge, AC to run near-continuously – then it would be worthwhile, because of the difficulty of getting an economic mains electricity hook-up. But if it’s just 2 weeks ~ a month away, and you’re moving around some, I don’t see it. It becomes about as practical as putting current-gen, current-price photovoltaics on your house. It’s effectively free once installed, yes, but the cost of buying and installing the cells means you’re looking at something like a 10-12 year return on investment, MINIMUM. Probably closer to 20. Better to wait another 10 years for the tech to improve and price to drop.
(From which, if we factor in the price of gas/diesel to run what is effectively a generator, it might be 1~3 years continuous use in a mobile setting, at a guess?)
Well, three points about that.
- Alternators don’t charge well at idle. I think if you tried to charge a bank of deep-cycle batteries with an idling engine you’d be surprised how little charge actually went into them.
- Surplus panels can be had relatively cheaply.
- A lot of people who do this are dry camping for weeks at a time. Besides interfering with the whole quiet woodlands ambiance, idling an engine for long periods on a daily basis is not good for it.
guys is probably living the dream storm chasing and skiing powder.
looks like something out of a bill murray movie.
So forward thinking, they can’t even look back through the rear view mirror!
They do have one outside driver’s door, and probably matching one on other side, should do the trick pretty well.
Its funny that they do this when it’s cloudy outside…
Ever got sunburn while skiing on a cloudy day? That dang white stuff keeps reflecting light at you. I’m willing to bet these panels are not starving.
^ this guy is Canadian
Almost, so clooose! Only 5000 miles off, thanks for playing with us today!
McFly, we just need 1.21 gigawatts and we’ve conquered Canada.
Hey! I want one! My alternator is going….
Peter was grateful to his dear old mom for packing extra sandwiches in his lunchpail that day, because his solar-powered snow melter was not even close to living up to expectations. It was going to be a long ride home.
It’s even more energy-efficient if it’s so dumb looking you never drive it!
If that is so, I guess you never leave the house.
Transform…
And Roll-out!!!
He’s got solar panels to reduce his carbon footprint and a door mat to reduce his carpet footprints.
It’s definitely a clever ruse. However, they had better do something quickly to fix the radiation leak by the back right tire before someone discovers the mini nuclear power plant inside that provides the true source of their vehicle’s energy! I guess they can still technically claim they have gone green.
Crapy van: $500
Crapy solar panels: $1500
Faking being green: priceless!
You can’t be really green unless you turn into grass.
If this vans a rockin’ the door handle might be shockin’
I would like this… but then I see the Canadian flag.
New for 2011: The Ford Con-Fusion
Shape of… goofy van with horrible drag!
This is actually Canada’s entire early missile warning system. If an enemy missile is detected, the RCMP and the entire Royal Canadian Two-Canoe Navy can be activated within twenty business days.
As a last resort, they can activate Celine Dion – I’d get the hell out of there.
Nah, you can keep her.
You made me LOL.
I have visited Canada with great pleasure more than once. And they have a more singable national anthem than does the US, IMHO. That’s a plus, right?
I would not say anything rude about … Although I did spend quite some time feeling sorry for the B.C. housewives trying to dry clothes in the summer, laundry hanging on the front porch to protect it from the falling rain.
O Canada, some-thing some-thing something…
I guess I didn’t learn much from the Olympics this year.
well then… you need to catch up: h++p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjiwBwBL4Qo
the best version of Canadian anthem ever
Huh. I must have missed the part of the song before that goes “mic check 1,2…1,2…” I guess I should conclude that Canada was founded by roadies and AV club geeks?
I did hear that The Beaver magazine was changing its name, though, so I probably shouldn’t say that I learned nothing from the Olympics… You have to understand, of course, that I live in a country that cut short the broadcast of the closing ceremonies so that we could all be treated to Jerry Seinfeld’s abysmal new show, “The Marriage Ref.”
I would really like to stab Seinfeld in the eye.
Two canoe navy? Have we bought another one?
No jokes about the rare Canadian Solar Pimperfish parking itself to hibernate for the winter? I’m disappointed in you people.
solar pimperbutterfly* – ure doin it wrong
and kay – afaik canada has well paid, well educated forces – dun fook with dem canucks, or the light go ouuut
What are you laughing aboot?
This reminds me of the family van in Honey I Blew Up The Kid.
solar pannel nothing look at the size of the snowbanks!
The solar panel isn’t stock, but the rest of it is. It’s a Ford Airstream conversion van, meant as a camper from the start. Not my type of camper, but lots of people love these
hideousunusual vehicles.The solar panel is probably to keep the battery charged while the fridge and tv run. Had a camper-van once it used bottled gas for heat and cooking. All the electric was DC running off the battery needed to plug in to keep from draining the battery.
They aren’t pretty, but this type of pop-up camper is enormously practical. They’re more roomy inside with the top up than a typical conversion van, and unlike a trailer or motorhome you can still park in normal places.
It’s Ed Begley and Al Gore’s super sekrit love nest!
Sorry, I write slash…
I totally want this.
Hate to say this, but that’s not a camper, but just an old Aerostar XL minivan, nice conversion with the popup roof though! Have the same van myself, interior lends itself to many modding opportunities
Apparently the exterior does as well.
small
i live in oly and theirs a solar panel installer that has a truck with a solar panel screwed directly to his trucks roof to charge his power tool batterys
It all a moot point nothing is going to change until the great oil rulers run out of oil. Give it about 1000 years.
That guy lives in Victoria! He has solar everything. That whole van is solar powered, not just the fridge and TV.
Greener than a prius!