Good question!  Yes, as others already pointed out, there are makers of the
solar-powered window fans for venting the interior.  Now here's a whacko
alternative:  What if they could "sputter" metal onto the surface of our Westy's
roof?  Voila, instantly improved reflectance!  Might be a bit shiny for some
people's tastes . . .  :^)  Even better would be if that material, in addition to
preventing unwanted energy from entering the roof of our vans, would intercept
that energy and convert it to electricity to run the electric motors in our
hybrid vans!  Yes, paint-on solar cells, that's what I'm talking about . . .
:^)  Hey, I can always dream, right?

But on a little more serious note, it always seemed to me that one should be able
to do something with convection to help cool the interior.  You can open the
skylight to let the hottest air out of the top, but where would the replacement
air come in if you didn't open your windows?  Anyone?

Marc Perdue
'87 white-topped Westy
15 miles west of Charlottesville, VA

Roger Reynolds wrote:

> <SNIP>
> Now my question is has anyone (or can we) come up with a nifty way to remove
> this built up heat more rapidly than occurs naturally by loss through the
> walls of the vehicle by, for example, installing a small fan in such a way as
> to exhaust the hot air while pulling in cooler outside air.  I realize that
> this would not make the interior temp cooler than the outside air temp but
> would hopefully help to keep it from being significantly hotter.  Then the AC
> would have an easier time getting rid of the built up heat when it is first
> turned on.
>
> I'm thinking of maybe a PC type fan hooked up to a small solar panel so it
> would run whenever the sun was out.
>
> Roger Reynolds
> Charlottesville, VA
> Dark Blue Topped '89 Westy