Wind turbine

[Johny London]

I saw a boat with a wind turbine (on quite a tall pole with 4 rather good guy ropes to hold it) and the thing was whizzing round like the clappers. Had dismissed these as a waste of time - and not seen much (or any?) mention of them on the forum. It set me a googling...

E bay is a wash with these things now - 200/300/400w seems the norm and available in standard blade type...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-400W-Wind-Turbine-Generator-10A-Charger-Controller-Home-Power/173420774999?hash=item2860af0657:g:CmwAAOSwmtNbUbaZ:rk:10:pf:0

as well as "lantern"...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400W-12V-Wind-Turbine-Generator-VAWT-Vertical-Axis-5-Blades-Controller-UK-STOCK/123470652605?hash=item1cbf6ca4bd:m:mDyOdPfQrq03OGGRkywmDJw:rk:9:pf:0

In this case both come with a controller.

 

I'm not expecting miracles, even an amp an hour, over 24hrs (cos these things can work at night ya know) would be worthwhile.

 

But I do wonder about numerous pitfalls, for example settling on a reasonable height/ease of set up/performance compromise. Also the controllers look a bit basic? And what about vibration noise - I don't think I could put up with drumming on the hull all night!

 

Gentleboaters, I await your opinions, knowledge and experiences.

[Tony Brooks]

If the wind where you are is the same as in Reading the it would be a good windgen day but...................................................
 

The quoted output may well be very close to gale force so make sure you check the outputs a a variety of slower speeds. Unless you are in an exposed position the wind inland is often very fluky and that causes the generator to twist on its pole and thus reduce the output somewhat. They also tend to transmit vibrations and noise down the pole so bank mounting is usually preferable.

[TheBiscuits]

A mate had one something like this:

 

http://www.ecoincentive.co.uk/store/50W-Telescopic-Vertical-Axis-Wind-Turbine.html

 

from Maplins a few years ago.  It worked quite well as a trickle charger, usually giving him an amp or so.  Telescopic so could be squashed for tunnels or hurricanes.  Vertical axis ones will tend to work better in low level gusty wind (like on the canal!) but the most efficient systems are horizontal axis where you can mount them high enough on a mast, preferably fixed to the land to avoid vibrations on the boat.

[AftApeth]

I was considering getting one recently, until I saw the stats here: https://www.thefitoutpontoon.co.uk/charging/wind-turbines/. They do say there are some trees around their mooring, so in perfectly open conditions things might improve. Considerably less than 1 amp though on average here.

[TheBiscuits]

43 minutes ago, AftApeth said:

I was considering getting one recently, until I saw the stats here: https://www.thefitoutpontoon.co.uk/charging/wind-turbines/. They do say there are some trees around their mooring, so in perfectly open conditions things might improve. Considerably less than 1 amp though on average here.

Yes, that's why the big wind turbines are installed in "clean" air not the swirly eddy currents you get below about 40 feet metres.  If you happen to have an exposed mooring on a clear hillside the horizontal axis is the way to go, but if you want to mount a turbine on your boat, go vertical axis. 

 

They are not as theoretically efficient, but will generate in swirling wind as they don't have to rotate the head so the blades face into the wind.

Edited November 29, 2018 by TheBiscuits
metres not feet! Thanks @Machpoint005

[DaveP]

As Tony says; you need a clean stream of wind, if it's moving around the turbine spends most of its time twirling around trying to catch it rather than actually catching it.  The output is proportional to the cube of the air velocity - so if it's quoted @400w, find out what windspeed that's at - usually 10-12m/s (22mph - Beaufort force 5) - the cut-in speed is normally about 3-4m/s (8 mph - Beaufort force 3).  Winds don't usually reach much higher than the cut-in speed and certainly very little of the rated speed is seen especially inland on non-exposed sites. Producing 24Ah in a day is beyond these units capabilities except for fairly insignificant periods of time.

[Robbo]

18 minutes ago, AftApeth said:

I was considering getting one recently, until I saw the stats here: https://www.thefitoutpontoon.co.uk/charging/wind-turbines/. They do say there are some trees around their mooring, so in perfectly open conditions things might improve. Considerably less than 1 amp though on average here.

The figures for a 12v fridge are way off, which makes me doubt the figures for the generator.

[Chewbacka]

A guy I was chatting to on the g&s canal got rid of his as the noise was not worth it for the amount of power it generated.

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, Robbo said:

The figures for a 12v fridge are way off, which makes me doubt the figures for the generator.

Indeed - they quote 96Ah per day for a 12v fridge - mine is 28-30Ah per day.

[Machpoint005]

22 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

Yes, that's why the big wind turbines are installed in "clean" air not the swirly eddy currents you get below about 40 feet.

 

19 minutes ago, DaveP said:

As Tony says; you need a clean stream of wind,

 

40 feet? Wind shear means that the decent wind speeds are well above 40 metres, and preferably above 100m if you really want to extract a good amount of energy.  The other end of the 'economies of scale' spectrum is that little toy machines do very little at all.

[TheBiscuits]

7 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

 

40 feet? Wind shear means that the decent wind speeds are well above 40 metres, and preferably above 100m if you really want to extract a good amount of energy.  The other end of the 'economies of scale' spectrum is that little toy machines do very little at all.

Oops!  My memory fade I'm afraid - the UK wind speed database quotes speeds at 10m, 25m and 45m.

 

There is also a reason they put the (inland) big fans on top of hills

 

Thanks for the correction.

Edited November 29, 2018 by TheBiscuits

[Nut]

I sold these when I was a manager at maplin, as soon as the customer came in they left with send direct solar panels. do not buy one unless you want to be disappointed your better off with solar

trust me

[Clodi]

I used one on the electric fences on the smallholding, they were more popular than solar panels but we were in  sunny windy West-Wales & solar-panels have come a long way since then.

The turbine used to do a good job.

Had a Rutland for the workshop and that worked really well, no massive mast involved

[Tumshie]

Has any body heard of Giga Turbines? - I've just noticed a little article about them in Practical Boat Owner mag. They seem to be pretty new out, I think. 

 

https://gigaturbines.co.uk

[MtB]

7 hours ago, Nut said:

I sold these when I was a manager at maplin, as soon as the customer came in they left with send direct solar panels. do not buy one unless you want to be disappointed your better off with solar

trust me

 

What? Even in winter?  My solar was charging at 0.1A when I checked it a couple of days ago, and that was at midday! 

 

I reckon a windmill will work in any light conditions, even in moonlight. Are you saying Maplins solar panels worked in the night, and in lowlight daytime in the winter?  Where do I get some?!

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2018 by Mike the Boilerman
Add a bit.

[Alan de Enfield]

6 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

I reckon a windmill will work in any light conditions, even in moonlight. Are you saying Maplins solar panels worked in the night, and in lowlight daytime in the winter?  Where do I get some?

Maplins ?

[Tony Brooks]

9 hours ago, Tumshie said:

Has any body heard of Giga Turbines? - I've just noticed a little article about them in Practical Boat Owner mag. They seem to be pretty new out, I think. 

 

https://gigaturbines.co.uk

Just had a look at the link - loads of pretty pictures and greenwash but I could not find any technical specs. I would say beware.

 

[Robbo]

49 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Just had a look at the link - loads of pretty pictures and greenwash but I could not find any technical specs. I would say beware.

 

No pretty pictures I could see of the product tho!

Edited November 30, 2018 by Robbo

[Sea Dog]

Just buy one Johny London - let's end all this guesswork and speculation and gain ourselves an expert!

 

[rusty69]

3 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Just buy one Johny London - let's end all this guesswork and speculation and gain ourselves an expert!

 

..... And a few new words for the Uxbridge dictionary! 

[Dr Bob]

During our 3 year sail to the med and back, we came across many boats with wind gennies. Some were ok to be next to but others not so. Constant creaking, whining squeaking etc. A lot are not quiet and will annoy both you and your neighbors. If you get one, please don't come and park by me.

We had a duo-gen (a prop in the water or a blade in the air). Fantastic in the water but cr&p as a wind turbine. Very similar performance to the Rutland jobbies and we were on the coast. Inland? Don't bother. 

If I had a bank side mooring then maybe a bigger version would be the way to go but again the noise is a big issue. Please don't moor next to us.

[roland elsdon]

Our friends fitted a wind turbine to their wooden boat, in the 80s they had hours of fun watching the micro ammeter giving them an amp or so. Then one night a gust of wind blew it off the boat I think in to battlebridge basin. Shortly after pregnancy occurred followed by moving off boat.

so there you have it, wind gene is a great contraceptive and one off drone but other than that probably a liability

[Señor Chris]

33 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

A lot are not quiet and will annoy both you and your neighbors. If you get one, please don't come and park by me.

He could always turn on his engine to drown out the noise.

 

[Machpoint005]

17 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

There is also a reason they put the (inland) big fans on top of hills

 

Thanks for the correction.

Strictly speaking they don't - a turbine tends to be more productive on the side of a hill, but they are so tall they look as if they are at the top.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, Machpoint005 said:

Strictly speaking they don't - a turbine tends to be more productive on the side of a hill, but they are so tall they look as if they are at the top.

But they do put them on top of the sea - I seen 'um !!

And, they don't 'arf produce some wind - its no wonder we have electrickery shortages driving all those big fans...…………...