The guy that started this post  is a dink.  How many batteries do you
suppose it would take to store enough energy to run a reefer unit on a 53
foot trailer that uses a 4 cylinder 34 horsepower diesel engine and is
capable of producing 64,000 btu/hr and maintaining temperatures of -20
degrees at an ambient temperature of 100 degrees F. (2000 btu is a ton, most
average homes use a 2.5 to 5 ton central AC unit a reefer is 32 tons of
cooling power)  How much do you estimate the resulting batteries, solar
panels, or in your case wind turbine would weigh?  How much fuel mileage
would be lost to the resulting resistance the turbine would add to the
vehicle? (keep in mind 6.4-7 mpg is the average fuel mileage of a big rig,
fuel mileage bonus pay is based on  1/10 gallon savings )  How much revenue
would be lost because the additional weight of all this equipment would
result in lower weight available for cargo? I've driven temperature
controlled rigs (reefers) for a living.  The margin is soo thin that when
meat is hauled its case loaded on the floor, with out pallets, because
pallets weigh 40-60 pounds each, and 18 pallets equal 740 to 1080 and the
shipper/receiver doesn't pay for pallet weight, only product weight. average
product load was 42,000 pounds, at 75 to 150 pounds per case depending on
what's in the case, i.e. steak, hamburger, bacon etc. 420 cases that have to
picked up and set on a pallet when unloaded.  On top of that he wanted power
to run an HVAC system for the cab and sleeper area.

Whitelightning

Nice forward thinking, but when you think about it, the reason you probably
don't see anything out there like the solar or the turbine idea is simply
cost.  It would be cheaper to put a heavy duty or even a second alternator
on the rig to charge up a 2nd bank of batteries for nighttime usage.  Again,
no matter what you put in, I don't think any bank of batteries is going to
run a A/C or heat very long, but it may have enough to run low voltage
lighting and even a LCD type TV for hours.  I remember my friends Ford
conversion Van had a set-up like this and it had a dial on the firewall of
the passenger side that had a "1", "2" or "BOTH" choices on it.  It was for
the two batteries and if he was camping in the Van at night, he would dial
"1" or "2" to run off the one or the other battery for lights and TV, etc.
This way in the morning, he could turn it to the other to start the van
(since it was usually dead or close to it as he would sometimes fall asleep
with the TV or radio on.).  Once the Van was started, he would turn it back
to "BOTH" to charge both while driving....

I nice concept but it would have to induce drag to spin turbine to
make power and it is doubtfull that it would be energy efficent  vs a
big altenator to provide power needed as engine would have to overcome
extra drag if it added too much. Still a nice idea though koodo's.
When I lived out west for a bit in 90's they were some mountain top
amatuer radio repeaters that were purely solar powered. Thye had a
bank of about 8 to 10 golf cart battteries with a solar array that
could make about 400 watts peak. They made and stored enoungh power
that they could keep repeater operational for over a week without
sunlight and they had to be reliable too because winter maintainance
access was not possible. THey would always draw a couple of amps even
when not transmitting and could draw a total of 10 to 25 amps when
transmitting depending on configured output power.
-----------------
The SnoMan
www.thesnoman.com

On the other hand, the truck has a 250KW generator (the engine) that
could be used to charge those batteries while he's on the road.  Of
course that would be stealing from Peter to pay the batteries but the
loss may not be noticable in terms of milage.  Likewise with the wind
turbine which the truck is also powering.  Solar panels would be one way
to nab free energy but the cost of gathering it up ans storing it is
anything but free.

It would be possible to power a small personal sized air conditioner for
the cab or sleeper of a truck for a few hours with an inverter and
battery bank.  The bank would be about the area of 6 automotive
batteries and about 30" high.  That would power a small AC unit for 8
hours.  It would require about 100 amps charge for ten hours.  This is
roughly 1.5 HP from the engine.  A solar panel sufficient to charge the
batteries would have to cover the roof of the trailer unit.

These are rough figures and guesses out of my head but I used to set up
large battery systems on yachts of 100' or more.  Boats like that often
have a couple of banks about the size of a desk.  Solar powered charged
would not even touch banks that size.

The owners like the idea of being able to shut down all engines and
staying quiet for some time.  In practice they usually end up shutting
down the main generators (likely a pair of 30-40KW) and running a
smaller backup/nighttime unit (12-16 KW) which can't really be heard up
front unless everything is off.

Stephen N.

Why go to all that trouble?  Just charge a battery from the electrical
system.