Chinese Wind turbine experience

System
System Posts: 2,511 admin
Hello Group,
I posted this message on the yahoo small wind group, and was asked to also post it here .......

I would like to provide some input, and personal experiences I've had with the
Chinese Wind Turbine manufacturer: Yangzhou Shenzhou Wind Generator company, or
SWG.


I have had two(2) of the 5000 watt systems from SWG and they do not work. The
controls have not ever worked, right out of the box they did not function. Not
the new system or the old style system. Fortunately, my start-ups have been
controlled and I did not had a catastrophic failure before taking it down. The
first one did burn up 2 inverters however.

It may be of interest to know I visited their factory in China and met with the
owner after installing machine #1. The owner readily admitted that the turbine
would never work because the yaw motor would always burn out. After 2 months
more of mis information from their inside sales team (Daniel Zhu and April
Wang), I threatened a law suit and they sent a new 5kW machine. This "new one"
is even worse than the first system. The scary part is these people are selling
allot of machines into the market, and it is highly likely someone will get
killed by one of these when the blades come flying off.

These turbines from SWG rely on electronic sensors, anemometers, dog-vanes to
position the system into the wind, and turn them out of the wind or apply a
brake during high winds. None of these controls work properly, the electronics
are complete failures and not well thought-out. Also, the new system relies on 2
small batteries inside the turbine head to control the yaw motor and hydraulic
brake, and after even a short power outage all control of the system is lost
because the batteries discharge rapidly. I experienced this issue with machine
#2, and of course they provide no means to access the battery or "jump it" with
an external battery. As I said, the design is not well thought out.

Others have also had disastrous results with these SWG turbines due to these
control failures, they can be seen at the web sites below. One family lost
$74,000 on a system that never worked, and the installer went bankrupt so they
had no recourse. And that is the problem, getting any of your money back from a
bankrupt company is likely not possible. Getting any satisfaction from a Chinese
company is a long process and will involve international legal action.

http://www.powershacks.com/redrivenfailures.html
http://wcco.com/local/faulty.wind.tu...2.1186107.html
http://www.windaction.org/news/20716
http://www.wind-water-power.com

Many people in the US know this Chinese brand by the people selling to this
market:
ReDriven
Farm Boy Energy,
or
Skywing (Hong Kong) and there are many more.

Wind turbines need to be robust and have fool proof controls. I suggest if you
are interested in a wind turbine, speak to 2 or 3 people that already have the
unit of interest. Do not buy a prototype ! Be a certain as you can that the
machine of interest has performed for a significant time period, and has
withstood high wind events without damage. I also suggest you stay away
from Yangzhou Shenzhou Wind Generator company, or SWG - they are a very
unprofessional group of people that will happily steal your money as they have
tried to do with mine. I have been involved with wind turbines since 1982, and
these folks at SWG mislead and lied to me - so I hope you can learn from my
mistakes !
Caveat Emptor - "let the buyer beware."

Regards
Gary

Comments

  • Truth Squad
    Truth Squad Solar Expert Posts: 126 ✭✭
    Re: Chinese Wind turbine experience

    I'm not at all surprised. See, some things you need to understand about China.

    First off, the Chinese don't innovate. They copy. If you look at the power tools they sell under their own names and through front companies, they're copies of old American power tools. And they're also a giant factory for all the power tool companies and make product for them. Basically, Chinese manufacturing is a gargantuan cloning operation. And like clones, a little something gets lost in the translation with every successive copy.

    Second, Chinese manufacturing has its pulse on American fads and tries to cash in on that by rushing their own copies to market. They've done this with several things that were American fads and the next thing, here's a sea of Chinese products washing in to cash in on it. "Green energy" is an American fad. Call it what you will, but that's what it is. The Chinese noticed this and thought: "How can we cash in on this? We don't have any small wind turbines." Well, see the paragraph above---they copied existing turbines, just altering them enough to look slightly different. And the turbines they copied didn't really work so well in the first place. So, thrown in even worse performance and even lower quality standards on the parts, and what you get is absolute junk. The Chinese also know that the American brand turbines don't work so hot, nor do they really deliver what they're advertised to deliver. So, that's how they can make the outrageous power output claims they do: They're only following the leader of the pack, that being the other (as in non-Chinese) manufacturers.

    Third, the American people are caught up in a "race to the bottom". Everything these days from food to labor to products has to be cheaper. Everyone demands lower prices and this is somehow accepted as normal. Companies employ their purchasing departments not to source better quality parts, but to source cheaper parts. Well, nothing is free. If the price is lower, something was sacrificed. Quality, reliability, longevity, or American jobs----something was sacrificed. But, people don't want to hear that truth when they go to spend money. They want to get something that works great, lasts forever, and costs a fraction of what a quality product costs. Ain't gonna happen. Something is sacrificed. Now, that doesn't mean that the more pricey birds out there are worth a hoot. The Chinese are copying those guys, after all, and they've had "great" teachers there. After all, the Chinese doing the copying are usually the guys who were making parts for the pricey guys.

    The end story is, small wind is at least 50 years out from being anything. That's thanks to the manufacturers who keep churning out clunkers. And also the people who refuse to hold them accountable. Seems as long as the manufacturers tout themselves as "green" and do the "Gosh, we kiss puppies and recycle our soda cans in the break room...", then that segment of the population that calls itself "green" will not hold them accountable (while, at the same time, lambasting nuclear power because of the Three Mile Island accident which happened 30 years ago.)

    Well, here's the deal. Small wind doesn't work. As a grid-tie idea, it's a terrible idea. People knew that and advised the manufacturers of that. The average homeowner can't replace the hinge on a hollow core door and you're going to sell him a piece of high-maintenance equipment like a small wind turbine? And whoever tells you there's "no maintenance" is trying to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge. People thought to themselves, "Hey, I won't have to pay my power bill anymore!" Again, with that "Cheap, cheap, cheap, I need it cheaper!" idea that rules the day now. And their greed got the better of them. They went into this with both eyes fully closed. And they got rooked. Nothing is free, nothing is without cost. For the "other guy" to have lower prices, the "other guy" sacrificed something. Usually quality.

    So, let this thread be a warning for those out there who see Chinese made wind turbines and think they're going to get a bargain and then "stick it" to the power company.
  • nvyseal
    nvyseal Solar Expert Posts: 108 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Chinese Wind turbine experience

    Just was wondering here, but did you check for a UL CE rating before buying? How about reviews etc?
  • Powers
    Powers Solar Expert Posts: 36
    Re: Chinese Wind turbine experience

    Does anyone have any idea if this China made turbine is as advertised?

    This US company (Dist) is going gang busters with this product.
    http://tecwind.com/

    Intresting; The variable pitch speed control system consists of a blade that has been optimized for low winds and a centrifugal hammer that is fastened to blades that are allowed to tilt on their axis.
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Chinese Wind turbine experience

    centrifugal hammer = variable pitch prop

    Neat idea, till ice jams it a 3am, and then the wind picks up.
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  • Powers
    Powers Solar Expert Posts: 36
    Re: Chinese Wind turbine experience

    Ok.. good point.
    Didn't think of that one.
  • Truth Squad
    Truth Squad Solar Expert Posts: 126 ✭✭
    Re: Chinese Wind turbine experience

    Just because a company is going gangbusters with a product does not make it a good product. There are lots of things that sold popularly----and then the owners found out they bought themselves a major headache. Good products generally sell reliably and steady, without needing a big fad push to generate huge sales spikes that then plummet to nothing. Like Croc "shoes" for example.
  • russ
    russ Solar Expert Posts: 593 ✭✭
    Re: Chinese Wind turbine experience

    No 3rd party testing and preferably from NREL then I would forget it.

    The only turbines out there that work are:
    1) Big, massive, heavy - in other words well built
    2) For the most part they are from old companies
    3) They cost big time - you get what you pay for
    4) They require expensive towers.
    5) Low speed - not egg beaters

    The turbine in question makes rated power at storm conditions you will only see a few times a year.

    At 5 m/s wind speeds it generates next to nothing and only a few places in the US have annual average wind speeds above that.

    It is a pig they are putting lipstick on!
  • dmiller
    dmiller Solar Expert Posts: 68 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Chinese Wind turbine experience

    I don't believe all chinese products are junk, but when I saw the title "Chinese Wind Turbine" I knew it was not going to be pretty. :)

    Thanks for warning others about this product. I've worked with a chinese company with a very high quality technology product. But even their post sales attitude is poor. They are in a "gold rush" and just don't get western expectations of support and communication. The Japanese were much more focused on the long term when building their industries up (from producing crap) 40 years ago.

    "You paid for a windmill, we delivered a windmill. Sorry it didn't work out. Were now making washing machines. Want one - good price!"
  • cll@f-n.cn
    cll@f-n.cn Registered Users Posts: 1
    Re: Chinese Wind turbine experience

    Yangzhou Shenzhou Wind Driven Generator Co is not a company to trust.
    Any problem with the wind generators is your problem - no warranty is accepted whatsoever.
    Iwe found this page: www.f-n.cc and there is some photos. But please add your own photos of broken SWG system. Othervise i cant find any photos of broken systems on the web.

    Search google with "Shenzhou Wind Problems" and you will find lots of pictures of broken down Yangzhou Shenzhou products. On site is http://www.f-n.cc with lots of pictures. I feel sorry for those guys...
    //F
  • 20yrDCman
    20yrDCman Registered Users Posts: 23
    Re: Chinese Wind turbine experience

    Absolutely true. We want it cheaper and we'll get it with price and quality, and help put ourselves out of jobs while doing it. Make it here, buy it here.[/B]