Wind Turbine Performance

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by TxCoastSailor

Thanks for all the replies. Sounds like mine is pretty much like all the others. It did produce useful power last night despite the frequent misalignments. Hopefully it will do this less often when underway. That’s when we will really need it, especially at night when the solar panels are shut down.

I should add that my generator (Silentwind) doesn’t do the spin out a lot. Just when the wind gets flukey and erratic. It seems to stay properly pointed most of the time. But if wind gets weird it will do the spin out thing.

[TxCoastSailor]

To Snowpetrel:

I have my regulator maxed out as well. I really don’t think I will have to shut the turbine down very often. We are live aboards and the fridge alone consumes about 60 Ah per day. I think the turbine will rarely produce more than that so it’s not going to overcharge the batteries.

To Mike:

The wind was somewhat erratic and gusty on the dock Sunday evening when I observed this behaviour and it seemed to spin out mostly during gusts. When the wind was steady it seemd to stay in the groove. Hoping it will be well behaved while underway.