Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let me start by saying that the seller was very responsive and refunded my money for the purchase. This is the only reason it's not 1 star. They clearly didn't make the turbine but were simply "distributing" it from what they called their supplier. The seller indicated in their last email to me that "the seller had concluded that my unit was defective based on my video of the turbine in action" and refunded my money. I can't complain with the outcome or the seller's responsiveness. However, I do not think my unit was defective as much as there is false advertising in what the turbine will do. Read on for my review and view my attached video to see start up speed issues and a picture of wattage performance on a grid tie inverter at 10-15mph winds. Pros: 1. The aluminum housing is sturdy and seems well built 2. It will work with a battery or grid tie inverter which a lot of people asked about but very few replied. As long as you buy a separate rectifier to turn the 3 phase wild AC into DC, you can use a grid tie inverter. It won't be optimal, but rest assured that I tried it and it hands down works. 3. The seller was good to work with and never took more than 24 hours to respond. Cons: 1. The cut in speed for the blades to begin turning is absolutely NOT 5.5mph. From several tests I've done with an anemometer, it appears to be closer to 7.5 mph or 8 mph to actually begin turning. 2. To actually MAKE power you need to have sustained wind of at least 10mph preferably at least 12mph. Even with those speeds, the turbine only produces about 20-40 watts. I measured a gust of 40 mph and it produced 204 watts. By these calculations, you'd essentially need to live in a nearly hurricane force wind zone to make this thing financially viable. 3. You'll have to buy a brake separate or make one by modifying a 8 slot breaker box and rigging it to have 2 sets of 3 breakers as a "brake" and a "load". For many power companies that's all they require but check with your local utility. 4. The wind direction fin is too small. If there is any variability in the wind direction, this turbine will constantly be pushed in different directions as it tries to orient itself. Because the fin is designed too small, it often flips itself around completely opposite of the prevailing wind and slows the blades to a stop. This happens frequently and stops its momentum and kills the power generating ability. This probably seems obvious but you want the blades to keep turning constantly without losing momentum. The other issue with the small fin is that if the wind is a lower 5-6mph, often it's not enough to reorient the turbine towards the correct direction of the wind to even try to make power. I readily admit that in areas with constant single direction for prevailing winds, this probably would be a big deal. However, here in the midwest where winds switch around as storms or fronts move through, this is a deal breaker. In short, will this thing make power? Well... yes, but not very much. If you are at the beach or at the top of a ridge/mountain, or have an open plain that has constant 12mph or more wind speed, you might make a little. At 20mph sustained, my turbine was making about 40-60 watts of power, which seemed ridiculously low compared to the 400 watt advertising. In order to hit the 400watts based on real world experience with this thing, it would probably take something close to a 60-70mph sustained wind. That's just not logical for most of the world. At those speeds I'd be extremely concerned about survival of the blades and turbine. Is it worth the money? Absolutely NOT. You're much better off saving a little more money and buying a Renogy or other good quality solar panel and a decent solar battery or two. I've had this turbine for about a month and my peak power production was .07kWh for a very very windy day. Even though solar cant charge batteries at night... neither can a junk wind turbine. I've decided that I'm better off buying a few more panels and batteries rather than counting on this to charge at night or during storms. Maybe for an RV it might work due to the small load requirements, but for a home load its useless. I'd need a yard full of them to make a difference if this turbine is any example. Per dollar invested you're better off with solar... plus solar doesn't have moving parts to wear out like the turbine does.