Wind Generator- The Good The Bad and The Ugly

[davefrediam]

Originally Posted by rms95835

I have a Rutland 1200. Am happy with the noise level, it is unobtrusive. I originally bought it because of the controller. The controller is an MPPT controller, so optimizes output, and it also allows for up to 20 amps of solar to be connected. There are outputs for two battery banks, so in my case seemed the perfect solution. I will say, that in practice, the controller didn’t perform as advertised. I now have the controller only managing input from the WG, and only connected to the house bank. And I bought the remote, that actually allows you to see output and control stop/start. I would not own this WG with out the remote. In this configuration it has been reliable, and effective. It is also proven to be quite robust. Survived hurricane Irma, following the manuals instructions to simply just shut it down and let it free wheel slowly.

That surprises me as a mate of mine has a Rutland (think its a 914 but thats a guess) and he has gone through 3 in the last 2 years, anything GUSTING above 35 knots has burned it out unless it is tied up and Rutland has always refused to replace them for wind damage (as they see it), even though less than a month old on one occasion!
I have a Superwind and have never tied it up in the 8 years I have had it (just switch it off when leaving the yacht) and it has always been fine.

[Franziska]

We have a Rutland 1200 as well, it made a little noise at the beginning, but since then it runs very nice and we were able to run our onboard household fridge from it.

Guess the bearings needed settling in. We do use tge Rutland controller for the windgen only, as we have separate solar regulaters anyway.

Two years ago we enjoyed our first season with ice in the drinks. What a luxury thanks to the Rutland.

Originally Posted by davefrediam

That surprises me as a mate of mine has a Rutland (think its a 914 but thats a guess) and he has gone through 3 in the last 2 years, anything GUSTING above 35 knots has burned it out unless it is tied up and Rutland has always refused to replace them for wind damage (as they see it), even though less than a month old on one occasion!
I have a Superwind and have never tied it up in the 8 years I have had it (just switch it off when leaving the yacht) and it has always been fine.

[sailormike]

I recently upgrade my solar array to 800 watts and replaced my six 5 year old 100 amp AGM's with three 100 amp Battleborn lithium ion batteries.



I considered adding a wind gen, but decided to spend the money on the lith batteries. I am completely satisfied with that decision.

[BoatBumm]

I agree that the first thing to do if possible is add more solar. I have a MK4+ by Marine Kinetics. Over 2018-19 I used it on a 6000 nmile voyage. Great performance, dead quiet, and started spinning in lower wind speeds long before other brands did. Plus it weighs only about 18 pounds making installation MUCH easier compared to the 35 pound models out there. I have a background in aerodynamics and the configuration of its carbon-fiber blades needs to be included in an art museum somewhere. Beautiful. Installation support was great. You can’t get around the velocity squared law of the energy contained in moving air. It’s physics. For any wind generator the wind speed has to be at least in the 10+ knot range to develop any significant power. But I liked it since it ran day and night. It helped to keep my batteries charged all night from running power-hungry items like the refrigerator.

[FynAlee]

Originally Posted by Antipodean2

Greetings
I am seeking input on which , or if any wind generator on the market could be recommended for my yacht.
I have a 38 ft cutter rig sloop, with a 120 watt solar panel , and dual alternators on engine.
Like most of us I have continued to load my power usage every year, and each cruising season I contemplate there must be a economical reliable system to recharge my batteries.
I have a targa frame aft and off this hangs an outboard, bbq, antanaes, solar panel, and probably looking like a wind generator.
I have always been wary of wind generators as in the past the noise the generate can clear an anchorage.
Advice on models, others have used in regards to noise, reliability, installation, value, would be appreciated.

Cheers

Hello, I sail a Hans Christian 38, and Installed a superwind 350 in 2008 atop the mast. It's still working fine, generating energy, especially in stormy conditions when my autopilot draws a lot of amps. I chose this one due to its reputation for long life, and zero maintenance. Both true. I left California in 2010 and cruised Hawaii and the South Pacific for 7 years. The boat is now in Italy. The only problem I experience was a faulty On-Off switch. I replaced that with a pair of battery switches while in Bali, and it has continued to generate quietly ever since.

[rlh1246]

I have used a D400 wind gen for years along with 220 watts of solar. The D400 is a bit pricey, but like mentioned before, it is dead quiet, no vibration, requires minimal maintenance and provides dependable power while cruising. On the down side it does require a bit more wind than the smaller units. I have used other 3 and 4 blade units and found that they were noisy, produced a constant vibration and limited output. I highly recommend the D400 along with solar.

[Force Majeure]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Physics I think the power goes up as the square of the wind velocity, double the wind speed four times the power, treble it, nine times.

Wind power is actually a function of the cube of the velocity. So there is 27 times more power in a 15 knot wind than in a 5 knot wind. The other relevant part of the wind power equation is Area (which is of course an exponent — a square). So a wind generator with a blade that is say just 6 inches longer than another (eg MarineKinetix vs Air X) will sweep more than 45% more area. It makes sense, as the more wind it can intercept, the more power it can capture. Given the fact that Mother Nature affects the velocity, one should generally choose the unit with the most swept area if they want the maximum power.

There is one more factor that affects things, and that is air density, but given we are all at sea level on our boats, I will call that a constant for simplicity’s sake.

[bensolomon]

Originally Posted by PLANET EXPRESS

Have 700 watts solar on 35 foot sailboat can make bread in electric bread maker and water during peak hours. Have silent wind it keeps from cycling batteries at night and from having to run engine to charge batteries when night sailing while using chart plotter and autopilot. O and the fridge cycles on and off from time to time.

Planet,

Can you post a photo or weblink of your setup?

[Sindbaad]

Originally Posted by Antipodean2

Greetings
I am seeking input on which , or if any wind generator on the market could be recommended for my yacht.
I have a 38 ft cutter rig sloop, with a 120 watt solar panel , and dual alternators on engine.
Like most of us I have continued to load my power usage every year, and each cruising season I contemplate there must be a economical reliable system to recharge my batteries.
I have a targa frame aft and off this hangs an outboard, bbq, antanaes, solar panel, and probably looking like a wind generator.
I have always been wary of wind generators as in the past the noise the generate can clear an anchorage.
Advice on models, others have used in regards to noise, reliability, installation, value, would be appreciated.

Cheers

I have had an Air Marine on my boat Athesa: a Hallberg Rassy 31. since 1996. It is effective and produces up to 15 Amps when the batteries are nearly depleted. I have used it on a cruise from Sweden to the US. It has an automatic brake which is magnetic and brakes the generator when it is overcharging. You get used to the noise quickly. Together with a 37W. flexible Solar panel the two provided enough juice to power my Single Sideband that I used regularly. Crossing the Atlantic, I fired up the engine only 15 hours.
The generator also acted as a watchdog, when the wind increased it woke me up. Never heard any complaints, even in busy anchorages.
Yes, as a cruiser I definitely support the idea. Get one. Air Marine is the best. However it may need an independent tower.
Zia

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by bensolomon

Planet,

Can you post a photo or weblink of your setup?

Not his, but here's 720W and a KISS (with a KISS Extractor controller)

http://skip.justpickone.org/gallery/...trical+Upgrade

I have a lengthy writeup which appears elsewhere in CF...

[summer love]

I use a AIR on my 30 ft hunter..it supplements the 120 watt solar collectors..works pretty well for me..no noise complaints from neighbors, adjustable shut off voltage allows me to set it to 13.8 v ...curve shown below co web site
https://www.primuswindpower.com/files/6713/8937/5764/airx.jpg
boat pic should be attached

[Jimmyhenry]

We have a Superwind. Installed in 38ft sloop on the solar frame. Almost zero noise. Ample power and backs up the solar over night. Easily coped with power needs on long voyages (1,000 nm plus)
Next boat (ketch) we took the unit with us and put it at the top of the mizzen. In the aft cabin directly under the mizzen mast we get a very quiet hum when the wind goes past 15kn .
Output slightly more probably because the wind flow is smoother and a bit faster.
Brilliant unit. Zero issues in over 15 years.
Pete

[opusnz]

Originally Posted by summer love

I use a AIR on my 30 ft hunter..it supplements the 120 watt solar collectors..works pretty well for me..no noise complaints from neighbors, adjustable shut off voltage allows me to set it to 13.8 v ...curve shown below co web site
https://www.primuswindpower.com/file.../5764/airx.jpg
boat pic should be attached

I had a similar setup but found that the shadow from the wind generator and radar put too many shadows on the panels which drastically reduced their output. I got rid of them and bought a higher voltage panel with MPPT regulator and I am now much better off and generator more power without any of the noise of the wind generator.

[summer love]

i didn’t go into installations.....using mppt with voltage combiners....collector voltage set at 14.3v serves my needs with auto pilot, dc refrigerator, chart plotter, etc. two separate battery banks, with isolated starter battery...shading split between radar or wind generator haven’t had to turn on my little 2 cylinder iron lung

[ewsponberg]

I'll add some 2 cents worth here. We are on a 35' sloop equipped with 3 x 12VDC Group 31 batteries (2 house x 1 start, 105AH each = 315AH total). We left St. Augustine, FL, in Jan 2017 and are now 14,000+ miles down the waves in Australia, not quite halfway through a circumnavigation. We left with two semi-rigid solar panels of 100 W each = 200 W total. By one year later, in Panama, we decided to add a wind generator because there were times when at night and on cloudy days it would sure be nice to have extra power that comes from the wind.

Along the way, I noted the noise levels and brand names of wind generators on other boats and eventually came to the conclusion that the two most popular versions, and as well the quietest, were the Silentwind 400 and the D400. We elected to install the Silentwind 400 and so far have not regretted it now two years later. The Silentwind 400 generates 3-phase AC power and sends it to a controller. The controller converts it to DC power and sends it to the batteries. There is an electrical stop in the controller that will stop the wind generator if it gets too windy, thereby generating too much voltage and current. You can configure voltages and amperages in the set-up of the controller. There is also a manual shut-off switch that allows you to shut down the wind generator manually. When shut down, the blades will turn, but very slowly so that you can catch them with a gloved hand or towel to tie them down if you wish. The Silentwind 400 does not come with a mast--you have to buy the materials and configure the mast yourself. This is not hard to do. They do give you all the bracket fittings to mount and connect mast and braces together, but you need to supply the tubes yourself. The Silentwind 400 has very quiet blade noise, you can hardly hear it standing next to it. But ours does have a bit of a harmonic noise that comes down the mast from the generator in the hub. It is not loud, and I don't mind the sound because when I hear it I know the wind generator is working. My wife does not like it that much because to her it sounds like the wind is howling outside. Like I said, it is not loud, and maybe it is just our installation and the way I configured the mast, but it adds some background noise to your life. I should point out that I have been living with tinnitus in my right ear for 26 years, so I can handle some background noise.

The D400 wind generator is very quiet also, and I don't know about harmonics coming down the mast. It is a fair bit heavier than the Silentwind 400 because the D400 has the converter built into the hub of the unit. The D400 sends DC power down the mast and these wires connect directly to your batteries. It is because of its larger size and heavier weight that we elected to go with the Silentwind 400 which seems a better fit for our 35' boat. I will say that the D400 will start spinning at lower wind speeds than the Silentwind--say around 5-6 knots or so when our Silentwind starts at about 8-10 knots of wind.

As for solar panels, being a naval architect (retired), I like rules of thumb, and I have come to the conclusion that an appropriate amount of solar power to have is roughly 100 Watts per 100AH of battery capacity. That means for our 315 AH, we really should have about 300 Watts of solar panels. But we don't, we have only 200 W, because that is all that will fit on top of the bimini. We don't have an arch on our boat to mount rigid solar panels the way many boats do. Also, we just replaced our batteries this week after 4 years (the old ones were shot), and were able to get 3 x 140 AH batteries in a Group 31 size, so now we have 420 AH total, and probably should have 400 W of solar power. Well, we'll live with what we have. It is sunny and windy here in Australia and so far, so good, the solar and wind are doing a fine job of keeping the batteries topped up.

I will add that we have very little on board that consumes power. We don't have refrigeration, we don't have any electric pumps. We have minimal electronics (VHF, AIS (new), wind instruments, autopilot, depth and boat speed sensors). We run two iPads for navigation, a cell phone for calls/internet access, two computers, and a DeLorme GPS. The phone, iPads, and GPS all recharge through 12V sockets on board. The computers run via a 2.5 KW inverter/charger. Our biggest power demands are either running the computers or recharging our devices. We do fine, but we realize that we don't have near the electrical equipment on board that most other boats have.

Anyway, I hope that helps. The above is based on our voyage so far over 3 years of living aboard, covering 14,000 miles, and studying what other boats have.

Cheers,

Eric