Low cost wind generator

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by AndrewSouth

You won't get proper power for your refrigeration without a true Sin inverter.

Wind is great. But thats too big and noisy for a boat that size

Most marine installations of refrigeration or 12 volt I think...

How does an inverter relate to a wind generator?

[AndrewSouth]

Doesn't i guess. A marine 12v fridge is fine but dost 1500$. A minifridge is 100$ and needs a true sine wave. More of a battery issue than anything. Ive lived off solar and wind. Wind is good because its consistent. Solar you gotta clean the panels and shade or cliuds and all that. Most wind gemnys have a preferred speed. Find one with a low speed and itll run quiet er all the time. Find one with higher speed like 15 to 25 knots and youll get more power but infrequently.

Brass tax. Wind is loud still. Solar is silent. Makes all the difference. Period.

[NorthPacific]

I have been using solar and wind generation for 5 years. Use one controller large enough for the max charge.

Sail shade mast shade cuts down on solar output. obviously when sailing day and night you can generate power. As to noise some but if it is bugging you feather the thing.

No Gen noise or smell. Even with led,s at night with plotters depth sounders aid radar you can have a big draw. So putting back into the battery for the 12 or more hours s Olathe is not producing is a big bonus.

We run a fridge 24,7 and make water for a couple of hours a day as needed. You can be free of the grid. With water making not a good idea in a port or marina and even in a beautiful anchorage it hat has other vessels it is amazing what drifts past, if you get my meaning. Finding buying packing potable water is on of the less enjoyable pass times cruising.

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by AndrewSouth

Doesn't i guess. A marine 12v fridge is fine but dost 1500$. A minifridge is 100$ and needs a true sine wave. More of a battery issue than anything. Ive lived off solar and wind. Wind is good because its consistent. Solar you gotta clean the panels and shade or cliuds and all that. Most wind gemnys have a preferred speed. Find one with a low speed and itll run quiet er all the time. Find one with higher speed like 15 to 25 knots and youll get more power but infrequently.

Brass tax. Wind is loud still. Solar is silent. Makes all the difference. Period.

LOL I can't tell from the post what the period (presuming to mean "case closed") refers to.

As to cleaning solar panels, Sunpower recommends installing them at not less than a 10° angle, for self cleaning (rain). However, you're right that if they are dirty they don't do as well as they could, regardless of the sky.

As to wind being consistent, it's no more consistent than the area you're in. Here in Vero Beach FL, it's been virtually windless for the last many days. Yet, I wouldn't be without my KISS.

For most with the ability to mount them, both wind and solar are a good investment.

But the original topic was about a low-cost wind generator and whether it was a good idea (compared to putting a more main$tream fan up)

[skipgundlach]

Oh, and PS to the above...

I forgot about the issue you'd raised. I know some folks who have mini-fridges, too, but they're 12V. But for the most part, if you've got a mini fridge, it's in the way on a boat, or you've had to carve out something else to put it wherever it went if not.

Of course, if buying stuff from Home Depot to furnish a boat is the norm for someone, it's entirely possible all the above is of no issue - but then you get into fiddly discussions of inverters, which remain the same whether getting their power consumed replaced via sun or wind. And if you want that inverter to charge (or nearly any shorepower oriented charging) it's going to be expensive, too.

You can't win on a boat. Much too small a market to make production affordable.

Back to the original question, I went to see the OP's questioned fan. It looks just like a lot I see out here (on the water full time), but then so do a lot of others - so I can't tell. I CAN say that most of them howl, while my KISS merely 'whiiiiiissshhh'es overhead. Granted, at 30 knots sustained, mine howls a bit, but it takes that much to do so.

But for the money, it's likely worth putting up; I didn't bother to get smart about it so I can't comment on the various realities of living with it once up. However, one commenter from the HD page, a couple of months ago said:

March 31, 2018
I am not aware of any adjustments to this unit.. I have been using these wind turbines, and have had a high failure rate, but with the warranty I just keep replacing them.. in the lock or off position, they slowly rotate, even in a very strong wind.. in the open , or neutral position, they rotate like crazy.. in the on position, they produced power as indicated in the power to wind speed graph..
Note: I have had to cycle my wind turbines on and locked back and forth slowly several times in the past.. to get them to produce power, if you let them over-rev, I believe they will shutdown, and act if they are in break mode.. this has corrected by problems with them..
Also Note: the blades do not seem to be balanced very well.. I am going to try balancing them next..


From the description, this is an AC device with a switched rectifier similar to that on my KISS. Off is an open circuit, which makes for magnetic braking, On is per usual, and "open" in his case is apparently the equivalent on mine of the thermostats opening, leading to free-wheeling.

The bit about multiple replacements isn't encouraging for the OP...

[SV_Harbinger]

So an update, I decided to buy both the wind gen and a 100w solar panel. The wind gen is on a pole 10 above the transom at the port quarter and right now the panel is on the bimini also to port.
Individually they do okay-ish (based on volts in the bank before I leave the boat in the AM to go to work, and when I get back after work)
The morning avg reading on solar alone is normal for the boat without any charging source (expected, no sun at night) of about 12.5vdc sometimes a little lower. By about 1730 when I get back it's up to anywhere between 12.8 and flirting with 13. Not bad.
The wind gen all by itself had higher readings in the morning but not as much as I would have initially thought, only about 12.7 and the end of day reading is about the same as the solar all by itself.
Running them both together I get about 12.8 in the morning and a very definite 13.3 in the evening.
Some readings presented with the expected anomalies, such as days when I showered the volts were higher in the morning, but I use the engine to make hot water so naturally slightly higher readings. The same on weekends when the boat usually leaves the ball.
The dime store version I guess is they both perform about as well as I expected but not as well as I hoped individually, but complement each other rather nicely. The generator does make some noise but not totally noticeable, and when the wind gets up a little does tend to vibrate, but I've lashed it the couple of times the wind got up a little bit more than 15-20 ish so that. But on a whole when it's not windy it's sunny and when it's not sunny it's windy. I would have to say I'm happy with them. Thank you all for the help and input.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by SV_Harbinger

So an update, I decided to buy both the wind gen and a 100w solar panel. The wind gen is on a pole 10 above the transom at the port quarter and right now the panel is on the bimini also to port.
Individually they do okay-ish (based on volts in the bank before I leave the boat in the AM to go to work, and when I get back after work)
The morning avg reading on solar alone is normal for the boat without any charging source (expected, no sun at night) of about 12.5vdc sometimes a little lower. By about 1730 when I get back it's up to anywhere between 12.8 and flirting with 13. Not bad.
The wind gen all by itself had higher readings in the morning but not as much as I would have initially thought, only about 12.7 and the end of day reading is about the same as the solar all by itself.
Running them both together I get about 12.8 in the morning and a very definite 13.3 in the evening.
Some readings presented with the expected anomalies, such as days when I showered the volts were higher in the morning, but I use the engine to make hot water so naturally slightly higher readings. The same on weekends when the boat usually leaves the ball.
The dime store version I guess is they both perform about as well as I expected but not as well as I hoped individually, but complement each other rather nicely. The generator does make some noise but not totally noticeable, and when the wind gets up a little does tend to vibrate, but I've lashed it the couple of times the wind got up a little bit more than 15-20 ish so that. But on a whole when it's not windy it's sunny and when it's not sunny it's windy. I would have to say I'm happy with them. Thank you all for the help and input.

Sounds like your next purchase should be a battery monitor. Trying to monitor a lead bank by just voltage alone is pretty darn inaccurate. Using a battery monitor you will see how many Ah are going in and out.

We have a Victron BMV700, but have heard good reviews of other brands.