Wind Generator- The Good The Bad and The Ugly

[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

[HankOnthewater]

Hi AP2, I would think there are dozens if not hundreds of threads on wind generators here on CF. You can search for them by using the search function, and with the 'google custom search' function being the better one.
Here is a link to a recent thread: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ll-231350.html

Be prepared for comments and advise like: "Better to install more solar panels". Hmmm, that could be right

[belizesailor]

Practical Sailor updated some of their tests from over a decade ago...not much has changed. Wind Gens are best as supplemental power to solar/genset.

https://www.practical-sailor.com/?s=Wind+gen



I had a wind gen on a previous boat and its performance was underwhelming. It went with the boat.

[Smokeys Kitchen]

We live aboard and have a D400 from Eclectic Energy Co (UK) and we love it. Dead quiet, but does take a good amount of wind (like 15kn) to provide a good output. Not cheap.

I would highly recommend one.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Smokeys Kitchen

We live aboard and have a D400 from Eclectic Energy Co (UK) and we love it. Dead quiet, but does take a good amount of wind (like 15kn) to provide a good output. Not cheap.



I would highly recommend one.

Output at 15 knots?

[AndyEss]

do more solar first

[fxykty]

We have a Superwind 350 and it is quiet. It’s also cable of handling up to 50 knots of wind before it needs to be manually braked. The new 353 is capable of higher winds. However, it needs 16 knots apparent wind speed to produce 10A. So only useful for upwind or reaching passages and anchorages with lots of wind. Maximum power is 350W / 30A from 24+ knots according to their power curve. On windy passages it provides all the power we can possibly use.

We’re on a cat and the wind generator is mounted on a 3m mast near the stern of one of the hulls. It doesn’t produce much when it’s to leeward as the main blocks most of the wind. We’re thinking of adding a second generator so that one will always be to windward.

If you’re sticking to low or mid latitudes solar provides way more power per dollar.

If you’ve got reasonable boat speed a hydro generator costs about the same and won’t need as much wind, but of course doesn’t produce anything unless you’re anchored in a river.

[clownfishsydney]

Do more solar! I had a wind generator on Catlypso and when it did work (had to have it repaired many times), you did not get any output till 10 knots of wind and really, needed 20 knots before anything decent was produced. At 30 knots it shut down completely by design.

Solar panels now give far more watts than old ones so even just replacing what you got now with same physical size will give at least double and perhaps four times as many watts. If you can, add more panels or get a solar blanket which you can put out when at anchor/moored.

[s/v Jedi]

It’s mechanical, has bearings that rust or wear out, blades chop off fingers, arms and I saw one slice through the deck itself.... and they throw shade onto the solar panels

[Navicula]

I like it for when doing night travel....radar and auto pilot and chart plotter are power hogs....its just helps out, not much....but helps

lots of variables....are you part time cruising or full time, and of course how much money you can spend......

lots of solar and battery storage is best,,,,,,generators are great,,,,wind generator least

[Smokeys Kitchen]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Output at 15 knots?

The specs say that output should be just over 8 amps at 15kn, but the best I have personally seen is just over 7, and it fluctuates a lot unless the wind is steady.

The best results I've experienced were when we were anchored and overnight it blew a steady 20 to 22 kn for several hours. We had a steady 14 amps+ for 3 - 4 hours.

I have not taken it off shore yet so no info in that realm.

[Mike OReilly]

Owner of a Silentwind for going on a decade now. Seasonal use (~6 months/year). Is pretty quiet -- not "silent" -- but easy on the ears. Mine is mounted aft above our cockpit. It can be running full-tilt (15+knots) and we carry on normal conversation in the cockpit. Don't really notice it. A boat length away and it really is silent.

Power output is pretty much on spec. It's an exponential curve, starting off small but grows rapidly. We get around 1-2 amp around 12 knots. By 15 knots we're seeing 3-4 amps, but by 18 knots were up into 6-7, and by 20 knots it's over 10-12 amps. I've seen it outputing over 25 amps in higher winds. After that it usually shuts itself down.

I'm strongly in the "get more solar" camp. Max out your solar first. Surely you have more space available. I've got 400 watts on my 37-foot double-ender cutter.

I estimate we get 80-85% of our power needs from solar, with the win gen filling in the rest. But the nice thing about wind is that it often excels just when solar sucks. And wind can keep going 24 hrs.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Output at 15 knots?

D400 @ 15 kts, about 75W ?

[RaymondR]

Going through a bad hail storm with high winds and a wind generator can be an excltlng experience.

[Argyle38]

I have a D400 as well and can confirm what others have said about it. Most of the noise actually comes from vibrations transmitted down the pole. Noise from the blades is a lower pitch 'whispy' kind of sound, not unpleasent at all. By the time you actually pay attention to it, the wind noise through the rigging is far louder.

They are quite heavy though. Something like 40 lbs. I also think they are the most expensive generator on the market, but they are clearly well built. So if your boat and bank account are both heavy enough to accept the load, the D400 is definitely one to consider.