NorthWind Power info

Re: NorthWind Power info

Hi power/chuck welcome back.

as already mentioned by truth squad the information required is not special and normally on technical sheets as a prove to clients.

You will not buy a new car, seeing only a short video. and the sales person can not answer any technical question ..

And the stated company address, is not a company or a showroom.

If you want to show up correct in a forum like this, you have to be ready technical.

see the "midnight classic" MPPT there is a long discussion and the manufacture is proofing all test sites live on internet and members from this forum are testing it.

that is a good way to have a product before you try to sale it.

Greetings from Greece

Re: NorthWind Power info

by the way your earlier comment "When I return from out of town next week, I will try to address all your questions." does not fit your last one ."I will be returning on 11/30"

But the a weekend from 10/31 to 11/30 that is nice, and then you try to sale a product.
A i will answer next week meaning a month. :grr

Greetings from Greece8)

Re: NorthWind Power info

peterako wrote: »

by the way your earlier comment "When I return from out of town next week, I will try to address all your questions." does not fit your last one ."I will be returning on 11/30"

But the a weekend from 10/31 to 11/30 that is nice, and then you try to sale a product.
A i will answer next week meaning a month. :grr

Greetings from Greece8)

WOW, tough crowd here :cool:

Re: NorthWind Power info

Ok, a few points:

1-We do not have electronics in the nacelle.


Well, that's a step in the correct direction. Good job.

2-We do not have blades made of composite. Can anyone confirm whether composite blades will still be intact after twenty years?


Well, the killer of composite blades is two things. First, UV degrades some blades. Second, on marine units, a galvanic reaction between salt water, the blade material, and aluminum hubs creates corrosion of both blades and hub. This all depends on the material. If a manufacturer does diligent, real-world testing and pays the extra buck for quality, these are moot points.

3-The output power is what the chart indicates. Twice the power of some of the other highly acclaimed units.


Well, I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard that. You have to prove this statement. Once again, a year of testing with several units in several diffeent locations and the results averaged. One turbine in one place and calling that the true output of them all is not correct.

4-Less than 2% chance of slip ring failure within twenty years.

Actually, the slip rings are not that likely to fail with a mechanical design yaw. I know; I used to do warranty repair of a very well-known wind turbine. Once the yaws were of a mechanical design, the number of slip ring failure plummeted to almost zero. People do need to support the wires coming off the leads of the yaw so the weight of the wires isn't pulling at the solder junction between wire and slip ring. But that has nothing to do with the integrity of a good yaw. The slip rings aren't what we're worried about. What's the percent-chance of, oh...., electronics failure within 10 years? Another thing, to truthfully say that there is less than a 2% chance of slip ring failure in twenty years, you have to have tested the turbine for twenty years. A certain manufacturer I know of likes to use the phrase "twenty years" and I know darn well they didn't have twenty years of data to prove that. A word of advice: Don't fall into the "twenty years" trap. After a while, you begin to believe it yourself and that doesn't do you any favors.

5-The most advanced alternator made to date. Dynamic braking force is the highest in the industry.


Once again, I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard that. Everyone says that. It's proving it that presents the sticky landing strip for the housefly.

6-Yaw bearing has 30 year history.


And this means what? The yaw bearing will last 30 years? The bearing is 30 years in production? Well, most bearings have been around several decades to the point where they're referred to as standard sizes. Also, if your design is good meaning you're not hanging a ridiculous amount of weight off one side of a turbine and thus putting a lot of directional force on the bearing, the lifespan of the yaw bearing will not be an issue. The turbine isn't spinning around the pole too often, so traditional bearing wear for rotation isn't an issue. In warranty repair, replacing yaw bearings wasn't done often, providing the bearings were of quality and the bearing boss was not overly tight. It's the bearings taking the weight of the blades and doing THAT spinning people should be concerned about. Bearing quality is another issue. I have seen American-made bearings that have lasted 30 years or more and were still good. But I've also seen Chinese-made bearings that didn't last two weeks. It's all about design, logic, and quality.

7-No China made components anywhere on the turbine. Made in Crystal Lake Illinois USA.


Well, my hat is off to you for that. Can you post some pictures of your factory assembly line?

8-No drain holes required.


Well, no. I should hope not. The manufacturer of that turbine did that as a grasping-at-straws measure to fix something they screwed up. Drain holes aren't ever necessary as a rule---especially when one doesn't make the obvious blunder of putting the electronics inside the nacelle.


I shall await your testing results and parameters. Though I fail to see why it should be proprietary. Again, if I had a dollar for...

Re: NorthWind Power info

Well, one thing I know, is that the more complicated you make a wind turbine, the more likely it is to fail. It also reminds me of the old "Space Race" thing. NASA spent a couple million dollars developing a pen that would write in zero gravity. The Russians just handed their cosmonauts a pencil and had done with it.

Re: NorthWind Power info

Hey guys, at least he's being more or less honest with us. It seems like they're only in it for the money, just like everyone else in the small wind "industry", along with everyone in solar, etc, etc, et al. They're hardly the only ones. The mail drop doesn't exactly warm my heart, though. I personally wouldn't give a large sum of money to a company that refused to disclose their address.

russ wrote:

Not to worry with this turbine I think! Whether it runs or not is less than a 150$ per year deal.

With more or less typical wind speeds of 11 mph they claim an output of 305 watts so - 305 watts * 8760 and a very generous capacity factor of 35% / 1000 = <1000 kWh per year. Maybe 100$ worth of power with 10 cent power.

Even at a 14 mph the output is maybe 1650 kWh in a year -

So besides a turbine that makes <150$ worth of power per year you have a mailing address for a warranty.

Heck of a deal. But they get into Uncle Sam's pocket for incentives/subsidies - at least the supplier will be happy.

The output is the same as any other turbine - forget the rather silly claims of extra output.

Both wind & solar cost more than buying power from the grid. That isn't at all a new thing. It's not as if you were going to be able to buy some other company's turbine, and finally have enough money to retire.;)

Re: NorthWind Power info

niel wrote: »

really!!! you think you can lump the entire solar industry in with the wind scams?

It wasn't obvious that that entire sentence was a tiny bit of an exaggeration? Besides, I happen to know of one company who used to be in the solar industry that I'm pretty sure was just faking it!!:D

Re: NorthWind Power info

I gotta tell ya, Charles. Those are very wise moves. You're on the right track.

Re: NorthWind Power info

Yes good to read about the control but there is still the technical part and live tests outstanding. if these are answered correctly i can tell you only here in Greece there are a lot off customers waiting to replace failing products , but you really need to answer technical and not only management.

Greetings from Greece