Customer Reviews

Sunforce Air X Marine Wind Turbine

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"We have been involved with this product and the manufacturer, Southwest Windpower,
from the mid 90's. Initially the manufacturer (Southwest Windpower) had potted
regulators inside the nifty cast aluminum housing on their 303 wind-machines.
After installation the machine ran great (except for the unbelievable noise
from the blades) for about 2 weeks until the uncooled regulator overheated and
self destructed. We were living off the grid in a very remote part of Samoa at the time and literally depended on the output from our wind turbines and solar
panels. We had a lot of experience with older types of permanent magnet wind
generators and spruce (wood) blades. Our older Redwing generators never gave us
any trouble except for the necessity to periodically replace the brushes. Southwest Windpower was contacted after our early debacle and this was the beginning of many overseas phone calls and 99 email correspondence over 4 years, fighting
with them to stand behind their product and do some actual real world testing
of their product. These people had a great idea but the bugs were not worked
out and we were their unwitting test subjects. Jay Yaeger, Dave Snowberg, Sean
Hickey, Andy Cruz: all Southwest Windpower muckety mucks get a big thumbs down for their
lack of followup and support. Initially Southwest Windpower was coerced by West
Marine (our vendor) into sending us replacement parts. Later after much wrangling we did
manage to have the company send us updated versions/replacement machines. After many,
many hours of uncompensated troubleshooting, pulling wires, dismantling of our
installation, re-installation...etc. We installed these replacements and guess what : more
overheating and failures. In one long distance telephone conversation with Jay
Yaeger at Southwest Windpower I asked him if they did any wind tunnel testing
to be certain these machines would stand up to hours and hours of continuous use. I asked
if they did wind tunnel testing to check for vibration and blade noise. The
response was NO!!! He told me they were not set up to do this. My
interpretation over the years: this company, as well intentioned as they may
be, are using us (the consumer) to test their product for them. Whilst they are
using their consumers to this end, they offer very poor support and excuses.
Even West Marine's Dan Aulrum admitted that West Marine had problems with this
vendor supporting its customers. This is all, of course, a historical review of
the product. It could very well be that this company has evolved (thanks to its
early failures) and is now acting more responsibly. My advise to anyone
purchasing this product is to be certain you have the warranty parameters with
your vendor clearly delineated."

That's 400W at a constant 28mph wind. Actual power will vary, but in a sailboat application you should have plenty of apparent windspeed to run this unit. Startup wind speed is 8mph and the manufacturer's estimate for monthly power is 38kW-hr at an average of 12mph. That last figure is more representative for a fixed installation with good wind, but does give you a figure of 50W power from a 12mph wind.

It's a solid unit, seems well protected from the elements (marine rating), comes with three year warranty, and has worked well in a couple of installations. (We did fixed installations in high salt areas so went for the marine rating.)