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Bergey Windpower

Bergey Windpower has been in the wind power business since 1977. Their wind turbines have a reputation of being rugged, reliable units and have been operating in both on and off grid applications in several countries. The are not advanced, state of the art or cutting edge technology but rather what may be considered old school when compared to new releases that are finding their way into the wind energy marketplace. Old school or cutting edge, the Bergey machines have one thing going for them, they work.

Over the years there have been several models and sizes produced. These would include the discontinued BWC 850, BWC 1000 and BWC 1500. Currently in production are the XL.1 and the Excel.

Excel

The Excel, first appearing in the early 1980's, is available in either a grid tie or battery charging model. It appears the Excel would be a good choice if you need some serious power. Low RPM and heavy, they are a picture of power.
This turbine has one drawback that we see. It's furling speed is rather high (35 MPH). A lower furling speed would provide less power but it would be subjected to less stress and we would assume a longer life would be the result.

The Excel comes in two version, the grid connected Excel-S and the battery charging Excel-R. The Excel-S now comes with a Powersync II inverter which is proving to be less troublesome in the grid connect scheme.

XL.1

The XL.1 is a side furling machine that has a comfortable home in the small turbine market. It has been available and largely unchanged in overall performance since 2004. The rotor diameter is 8.2 feet with pultruded fiberglass blades. The rated output is 1000 watts at 24.6 mph and a rotor speed of 490 rpm, however the furling wind speed is a bit high at 29 mph.

The rectification of AC to DC takes place in the nacelle and two wire DC runs down the tower to the charge controller. The XL.1 features such things as Low-End Boost and Slow mode. The controller also comes with a 30 amp solar control unit built in.

Photos Courtesy of DOE/NREL.