About Blades

This page is very important to read for those who are just starting out buying wind turbines and/or beginning to live off grid as we do.

Would you buy a box fan with the below blades mounted inside?       

No, you probably would not because fans are known to have very wide and fat blades for moving a lot of air.  Well, the principle is the same with catching air or wind for use with wind turbines. If your thinking these blades are going to start turning in low winds as advertised, you might as well buy that strange looking box fan with thin narrow blades and waste your money.

Common sense will tell you that if there is very little SURFACE AREA for the wind to strike these blades, then how can one expect them to start up in low winds of 4-7mph. The truth is they do not, and this is only a selling tool to rake in your hard earned money to those who do not know what they are buying.

For years we have sat quietly by with closed lips and seen these blades offered as “Low Wind”, “Quiet”, “Super Powerful” and a load of hyped up selling tools to make a sale. Nothing could be farther from the truth about these carbon fiber blades and the days of remaining silent is over.

Not only did we have a free turning generator that never started up until a 12 mph gust with these blades mounted on it. When it did get turning from a thunderstorm it made the most loud whine and buzzing sound that would wake you up at night. Sadly, we have seen “NEW IMPROVED QUIETER” carbon fiber blades that operate just the same from others who have been suckered in once again.

Any generator with these blades mounted on it WILL NOT turn in low winds between 4-12 mph. If they are mounted on a free turning ball bearing system (Not a generator) you might see them turn. Mounted on a generator that has any resistance from the magnets and /or bearings/brushes (For PM Motors) will take at least 12 mph to get them rotating.

These carbon fiber blades are good in winds of the open sea or areas that are flat plains that see winds around 15-40 mph daily. ANY PERSON who tells you otherwise is either outright lying to make a sale, or as never used them to find out.

These carbon fiber blades are very light. Does a plastic plate dropped from 5 feet on your head have any power?  How about a steel plate dropped from 5 feet on your head?

Since when did “feather light thin blades” have super power qualities? We can assure you they do not. But they do have super noise qualities and can cut your grass just fine.

Most wind generator blades need a mass/momentum to continue turning the generator, UNLESS it’s a high speed generator built for high rpm’s. But then again, you have to deal with the noise factor these blades make, and again, the 12mph start up factor.

“Engineering perfection” is another word we have seen to describe these carbon fiber blades. Perfection of what? Cutting grass or weeds? An air raid siren? Creating a noise source that sits on a pole in thunderstorms? These blades are not “Air Foil” blades. Yes, they have a back curvature and practically razor sharp edges for chopping off anything that comes into its path but they are NOT a true airfoil blade. They are sold as “One Size Fits All” meaning, Good for all wind conditions, but this is another false selling tool.

Of course they look cool and look powerful, but so do air guns that look like high powered rifles.

Cheap in price? Oh yes. We would say mold injected thin mass blades are cheap in price since they are popped out of an injection mold, pack in a box, and shipped off to the unknowing customer like mass produced candy. Much cheaper than blades that are produced by hand and designed for all wind conditions. There is a huge difference in price, and in performance.

We receive calls from people all the time who have purchased generators with these blades on them only to hear the same story. “I bought one of those generators that have the thin blades and it DOES NOT work in my area since I have LOW WINDS, do your blades work in low winds?”  They call us because they can’t speak to the person who sold the generator to ask them why it’s not working the way they said it would. Either they do not have a phone number listed, or they get sent around to different people who cannot answer their questions.

Below is a video of our 1,500 watt generator.
You will notice that the green tape is flapping away in only a 4-5mph breeze. At the end of the video you will notice that an 8 mph gust comes in and makes the blade go faster, along with the green tape stretching out more.

The reason why this blade turns in such low winds and continues is because the mass of the blade and TRUE airfoil shape, surface area of the blade, and low friction of the generator itself.

Carbon fiber blades next to this blade will remain still in these low winds.

There are tons of videos posted on youtube and other places showing generators with these blades monted on them. One thing to notice is how much the trees are blowing around while the blades are turning. (Perfect time to record since it's over 12mph gusts) On a few videos you can see the trees blowing around and no rotation at all from the blades.

Some of the comments are, "You must raise it up higher",
"Too many obstructions around", "Put it up 100 feet".
I don't know about you, but If I had to put a little wind generator up higher (Although good wind is hitting the blades) to make it rotate in 4 mph winds that should tell people something. People seem to want "Proof"they can see for themselves......Well it's right there is living color.

Turbulence and obstructions should not matter too much if the blades are DESIGNED FOR LOW WINDS, it should spin just fine in a 4-7mph breeze.

Most people do not live at sea, windy areas, or cannot mount their generator very high due to restictions these days. If your going to offer a generator, do offer it for low wind areas (About 89% of your customers) but design it to actually work and produce power in these low winds.

Furthermore, we still challenge any person or producer/seller that builds or has a carbon fiber blade generators to test ANY of our blades/generators next to their blades/generators in 4-7mph winds and video tape the results.

No tricks, no shorting, no power to the generators, just free turning un-connected generators in a simple 4-7mph breeze at the same level.

If those thin shark spears turn before ours do we will post that damaging video here on our site. As of two years, no person has taken up this offer.