Apollo Wind turbine 400-1000w Ac Question

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• AzSun Registered Users Posts: 8 ✭

  January 2014 #2

  Re: Apollo Wind turbine 400-1000w Ac Question
  

  harry2012 wrote: »

  I was planning on purchasing a Apollo wind turbine from ebay as a substitute for my charging system in the winter for a backup of my solar array in the winter months. Does anyone on here familliar with these turbines, because i keep reading reviews stating that they produce very low amp output. Any help would be appreciated
  
  thanks

  
  Their 1000 watt unit has a 5 ft. propeller and is rated @ a 30 MPH wind. Ask them what it produces in a windspeed of around 18 MPH. If they are honest, the answer should be something less than 200 watts. Better yet, lets use a windy area like Amarillo Texas which has an average windspeed of ~ 13 MPH. Add to that siting conditions. Obstructions further reduce output. This 1000 watt generator is starting to look like a 100 watt unit, hence the complaints about low amp output. Look up the average annual windspeed for your area. Ask the manufacturer what the output is at that wind speed. All of these types of units are rated at wind speeds that are not what most people get on an average basis. Some of them rate their units at an output that is impossible for a given rotor diameter. It's not that they are not useful in some applications, you will just get a fraction of the advertised output.

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• Carlos Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭

  May 2017 #3

  Hi everybody, i bought Apollo wind turbine some years ago, 1000watts. My experience had not been so good, because two wind hybrid charge controller (1500watts) were not able to support heavy winds, they burned out.
  I'm trying to find out a better alternative than the suggested on ebay webpages

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• BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 31,613 admin

  May 2017 #4

  Carlos, welcome to the forum.
  
  Regarding your question, I am not sure what wind turbine you have--But there are very good MPPT charge controllers that can work well with a wind turbine. One system designed for this is Midnite's Classic+Clipper system:
  
  https://www.solar-electric.com/midnite-solar-1500-watt-ac-turbine-clipper-mnclip1500ac-20.html
  https://www.solar-electric.com/residential/charge-controllers.html?manufacturer=MidNite+Solar
  
  It does sound like you may have adequate wind for your turbine installation--However, realistically how reliably and consistently will it generate useful amounts of energy. The above system is not cheap, and wind turbines require quite a bit of maintenance to keep running (let alone the issues of wind storms and the possibilities of icing and lightning strikes).
  
  Would an equivalent amount of solar panels and good quality solar charge controller make more sense? Assuming you are near Quilpue Chile, and have a fixed north mounted array, the amount of sun you have (on average) is around:
  
  http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html
  

  Quilpue
  Average Solar Insolation figures

  Measured in kWh/m2/day onto a solar panel set at a 57° angle from vertical:
  (For best year-round performance)

  Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
  6.61	6.11	5.82	5.51	4.27	4.03
  Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
  4.25	4.76	5.90	6.31	6.53	6.67

  Assuming a good quality wind installation produces around 15% of name plate rating (actually probably closer to 5% to 15%), a similar solar system (1,000 watts * 0.15 * 24 hours per day = 3,600 Watt*Hours per day -- average) would take an array around:
  

  • 3,600 WH per day * 1/0.77 panel+controller derating * 1/4.03 (June worst case average month) = 1,160 Watt array minimum
    

  That is a pretty reasonably sized solar array. Which will produce similar (or more) energy than I would expect from a 1,000 Watt wind turbine during the windy months (on average). And sun is usually a more consistent energy source vs wind.
  
  -Bill "not a big fan of wind" B.
  

  Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  

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