Giga wind turbine

jant said:
Anybody bought or have any experience of the gigawind turbines?
It’s time to replace my old Rutland the giga is tempting as the blades are fully enclosed, I have managed wrapping halyards in my Rutland a few times!,


https://gigaturbines.co.uk/marine-use/
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Amazed anyone buys wind turbines now unless their boat is already covered from end to end in solar. There are a few places where it does blow strongly every single day and night, could be worthwhile in such a place if anchorage is exposed.

It becomes obvious that it won't generate a huge amount in most places during an average summer if you look at the underlying physics. Solar is capable of generating more at much lower cost. Most people don't anchor in exposed windy areas anyway and that further reduces likely output.

Please ask for specific figures if anyone says that "it meets all my electrical needs". People were always telling me that with no figures to back it up. Output is largely determined by swept area and a 913 averaged 7-10Ah/day in an average summer (Scotland, France, Spain). I'd expect this device to be similar proportional to swept area. No idea of the size of the GIGA turbines as that information wasn't shown in their advert..
 
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Curiously I was thinking about a wind turbine at the boat show yesterday. The giga would not be on my list due to the tiny power output. This curve is from the double one:
https://gigaturbines.co.uk/shop/double-turbine-12v/
ok for keeping your batteries topped up when leaving the boat off shore power but even on a small boat it would be far simpler/cheaper to fit a small solar panel for that job.

Thread drift as not in the same category as the giga, but anyone have any experience with the rutland 1200? Power curves, if reflective of real life performance, seem to be far better than those for "premium" products such as the superwind or silentwind
 
I didn't do a detailed homework on these, but just looking at the pictures all the alarm bells and red light in my technical mind go on. Just those radial spars blocking some 15% (?) of the valuable swept area... These things are grossly inefficient gizmos as the previous posts suggest as well.
 
jant said:
Many thanks for the comments. To clarify, my requirements are for a trickle charge on a mooring that attracts wind.
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Windgens are excellent for this situation and have the happy bonus that seabirds don't seem to like them. I have used an Aerogen for many years but I think a Rutland would also do a fine job, both are pretty quiet. I would go for either of these even if you have to find a used one.
In terms of noise, someone once said the more modern a unit looks the more it should be avoided.

I am with jiris, just looking at the thing in your link it looks very dodgy.
 
jant said:
Many thanks for the comments. To clarify, my requirements are for a trickle charge on a mooring that attracts wind.
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I think I'm flogging a dead horse. Unless you leave the boat afloat all winter in will be FAR cheaper to add a small solar panel to trickle charge a battery. In winter I'd worry about leaving a wind-gen attached in an exposed area. I've seen a few in pieces after winter gales, but 80-100mph wind isn't unheard of in some parts of Scotland.:D

I'm afraid that stating you only want to trickle charge doesn't change the balance between wind and solar in favour of wind power. A mooring under a steep cliff would affect solar power a lot and that would make a difference.
 
You'll see small wind generators on all sorts of off-grid installations, including roadside monitoring equipment.
It's often cost effective, avoiding the need to size PV panels for 'winter worst case'.
As solar gets cheaper, the balance moves against wind generators for the average yacht.
 
Here's two Gigha wind turbines:
9294363367_86f5334833_o-750x422.jpg

I doubt if they are Giga wind turbines, though.:)
 
lw395 said:
You'll see small wind generators on all sorts of off-grid installations, including roadside monitoring equipment.
It's often cost effective, avoiding the need to size PV panels for 'winter worst case'.
As solar gets cheaper, the balance moves against wind generators for the average yacht.
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Output from solar is dreadful in winter and not viable as only power source for most yachts. However, I'd have said that the balance had moved away from wind to solar quite a few years ago. I haven't looked at flexible "unobtanium" based "marine" panels for a while. I'm comparing standard rigid panels with wind-gens. I'd need to check but would still expect semi-flexible panels to work out cheaper than a wind-generator. Probably still shorter lifespan so not so clear cut.
 
Some boats have really noisy wind generators wooshing away all night - even in marinas with mains power. IMHO the owners are as inconsiderate as those with bangimg haliards and barking dogs. Do us all a favour and cut the noise !!
 
We ha e a Rutland 1200 wind generator and 500w of solar.... If I could only choose one it would be the solar without a shadow of a doubt!

But I will say that a few times the wind has been better.
 
Hello, yes I bought a pair of Giga Turbines in 2019. They are quiet, don't enable things to tangle in them, but of course are not finger-proof.
I use them to compliment my solar panel to keep batteries topped up on my river Dart mooring. They work well, but should probably not be left running in 60kt winds as I did this winter... They are easily demountable and I have them in one corner of the pushpit at a height of about 1.2m.
 
TempusFugit said:
Hello, yes I bought a pair of Giga Turbines in 2019. They are quiet, don't enable things to tangle in them, but of course are not finger-proof.
I use them to compliment my solar panel to keep batteries topped up on my river Dart mooring. They work well, but should probably not be left running in 60kt winds as I did this winter... They are easily demountable and I have them in one corner of the pushpit at a height of about 1.2m.
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Welcome to the forums!

Whilst pleased that you're pleased with your Giga Turbines, you may have noticed that their website is dead, and so the company is probably the same.
 
pvb said:
Welcome to the forums!

Whilst pleased that you're pleased with your Giga Turbines, you may have noticed that their website is dead, and so the company is probably the same.
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The link goes to an alliance against greyhound racing, very odd. I did see some details about a 5V version in 2019, only £99, approx. 1kg and about 33cm high. It was meant for camping and seemed to be an insanely silly idea for most people. You'd need to a mounting pole and a tiny solar panel would out perform it. I think they quoted about 1A at 5V in 14mph wind and I doubt it would achieve that output very often. It was a vertical axis design and these have pretty low efficiency.

You can get a 5W panel for around £10 and a fold up 80W 5V panel (18.5 x 48.5cm extended and about 18.5 x 14cm folded) for about £15. I'd take the solar panel as I don't often camp on mountain tops in winter. :D

I vaguely remember that the version mentioned by the OP was an enclosed horizontal axis version but very small with output around 1/8 that of a Rutland 913. i.e. 1Ah/day would be a reasonable summer average.

It would be interesting to get cost of the marine version and actual output over a season or two. I did say earlier that most people just say their wind-gen works well, keeps batteries topped up etc. I don't think I've seen specific figures and costs (apart from my own data for a Rutland 913 recorded over several years).

I can't say I was surprised to find that the company may not be in business now.
 
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Mistroma said:
Output from solar is dreadful in winter and not viable as only power source for most yachts. However, I'd have said that the balance had moved away from wind to solar quite a few years ago. I haven't looked at flexible "unobtanium" based "marine" panels for a while. I'm comparing standard rigid panels with wind-gens. I'd need to check but would still expect semi-flexible panels to work out cheaper than a wind-generator. Probably still shorter lifespan so not so clear cut.
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I would support all you have said sofar; windgenerators are a waste of time and money. I have plenty experience with them in long distance and offshore cruising. I have had an Ampair, which was at least quiet, though it weighed a ton, and I have experience with the newer streamlined varieties which are akin to being chased across the Pacific and back by a low flying aircraft.
On our current boat we have solar, the cheapest, solid frame type, which cost us 35 Euro a pop for 50W and which (all six of them) are still doing well 4 years on. It should be noted that while I have seen many nav aids with solar, I cannot remember ever seeing one with a wind generator.
 
Yes its a shame these guys appear to have disappeared. Perhaps one of the business casualties to Covid. Force 4 sells the double unit (the single unit seems pointless to me for all the reasons mentioned above!)
Annoying they have gone because I need technical support for my unit. Hohum
 
TempusFugit said:
Yes its a shame these guys appear to have disappeared. Perhaps one of the business casualties to Covid. Force 4 sells the double unit (the single unit seems pointless to me for all the reasons mentioned above!)
Annoying they have gone because I need technical support for my unit. Hohum
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I'm curious about the reasons that the double unit would be less pointless than the single unit. I imagine that the 2 reasons might be:

1) Output on the single unit would be very low whereas the double unit would be about twice the low level of the single unit.
2) Cost of a single unit less than 50% cost of twin (I think that I saw £400-£580 vs. £750 for a twin unit)

Do you have historical real world data? I'm interested to see how it compares with my old Rutland 913. I still find it useful for the very, very odd days in Greece with high wind and little sun. The output is negligible for the rest of the time. It was marginal about 12+ years ago when I sailed at weekends and was on a mooring during the week. I wouldn't even think of buying one now as usually live on my boat for 6-7 months each year and power needs are higher.


I did see some old KickStarter ads. for a 5V USB charger looking remarkably similar. I wonder if they might have been trying to start under a different name. Still calling it a GIGA though and it is dated mid-2019.

GIGA | A Portable Wind Turbine for USB Charging

The advert often shows it ground mounted in a fixed, non-pivoting manner. I imagine the output would be very low in those conditions and you'd need to lug around a bulky 1kg+ object when hiking. A folding or roll-up solar panel makes more sense and I can't see it being a viable business.

I noticed one comment:
"I cannot wait to get my hands on this, I have tried solar chargers and they just cant get enough sun to charge the battery up enough after a few days out in the wild"

I think that person would be very disappointed if a solar panel doesn't meet current needs.
 
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