Wind power evaluation

[Ralph Day]

Found this on another forum and thought i'd import it.
Canadian Tire might have some unhappy customers!

http://www.detronics.net/wind_solar.pdf

[Rob Beckers]

Why's that Ralph?
Just read the article. They didn't sound unhappy to me. In fact it might inspire others to put up RE, so Canadian Tire could make a buck if they continue selling RE equipment. Probably I'm missing your point...:confused:

-Rob-

[Ralph Day]

I thought the evaluation showed how far off the Air X unit was from published numbers. If you're putting down the cash, you should be able to trust manufacturers figures to some extent, don't you think? Caveat Emptor of course.

Also pointed out were how the Air X couldn't be relied upon to evaluate wind site performance, as the company suggests (costly too). Many of us on hybrid off-grid sites had to (have to) rely on estimates in making decisions about hardware.

I went with SWWP H80 sight unseen, and have been satisfied with performance. You must not expect a 1kw unit to produce 1kw except under ideal conditions (rarely in other words). Sometimes it's more, most times it's less. My hybrid set-up was modelled to have wind contribute about 1/3rd total yearly energy. The last 2 years it has contributed just about 1/4 each year, not bad, not bad.

SWWP has also sent a new blade set to me for free! Too many complaints about "blade tip flutter" from other installations. This set is shorter and stiffer to alleviate the problem. Around here the condition is known as "farts of the gods!" It sounds like a helicopter landing in the yard (only for a couple of seconds usually). Tough to sleep through, but no neighbour complaints yet...noises usually occur during Nov, Dec March, when your windows and doors are closed while sleeping.

Any others with "fluttering" experience?

Ralph

[Rob Beckers]

The article you linked to was about a Bergey XL1, not an Air-X. They did give some wind and production numbers, but didn't mention if that lived up to their expectations or not. I didn't do the calculations to see if the XL1 lived up to its promises or not. Possibly you meant to link to another article?

In general though, I fully agree with you that manufacturers exaggerate. The only question is "how much". I know some make it really wild, with power claims that are off by half. It would be a very, very good thing if wind power and measurements of it would get at the very least standardized. Even better would be independent testing, though I can see that can get expensive for small wind manufacturers.

-Rob-

[Ralph Day]

still new at all this cut and paste stuff. I lassoed the wrong report.

Here is the Air X report. Now I'll read the one i originally posted.

http://www.detronics.net/airx_report.pdf

[Rob Beckers]

Ah, yes, the (in)famous Air-X.... :rolleyes:
Pretty much everyone in this industry knows they are not very good wind turbines, though it's always interesting to see a well-documented report rather than the hearsay that it usually is. What's really, really interesting is that the Air-X is also one of the most successful wind turbines of all time, in a business sense. Southwest sold a great many of them, and my understanding is that this is the turbine that really made that company. Goes to show you the power of marketing.

-Rob-

[Ted Sanford]

If anyone knows of an NRG wind energy data logger that is no longer being used, I could give it a good home

[Rob Beckers]

If anyone knows of an NRG wind energy data logger that is no longer being used, I could give it a good home

Make a post for it in the "For Sale Marketplace" section. That way, over time, more people will get to see it. I'll change the title of that section a bit so it's clear(er) that it's also intented for "wanted" adds.

-Rob-