Wind Turbine FAQs

Summary Checklist for Your Choice
Choose the SR or ST-1200W if you want portability, low noise, and minimal investment for camping or caravans.
Choose the ST-2000, ST-3000, or ST-5000 if you have a stationary house/cabin and want to supplement solar panels at night.
Choose the ST-10kW — the largest turbine we sell — if you have heavy agricultural power needs, acreage, and a budget for proper mast engineering.
The vertical axis wind turbines listed on the BushLine Outdoor Equipment catalogue are categorised by physical design shapes, which dictate their ideal applications.
No.Wind turbines generate "wild" 3-phase AC power that changes voltage constantly with the wind speed. Connecting it directly to a battery or a standard solar inverter will instantly destroy your equipment. Youmustwire the turbine into a dedicatedWind/Solar Hybrid MPPT Controller with an integrated Dump Load Resistor. The controller converts the power to stable DC to charge your batteries safely.
You must match the turbine and its hybrid controller to the exact voltage of your existing battery bank:
- 12V: Best for compact mobile setups like caravans, 4WDs, and camper trailers.
- 24V: Great for medium-sized setups like off-grid sheds, cabins, and motorhomes.
- 48V: The gold standard for full off-grid home systems. Higher voltage means less energy loss through your wires and allows you to use thinner, safer cables.
When your battery bank becomes 100% fully charged, it stops accepting power. If a heavy wind storm hits at night when your batteries are full, a turbine with nowhere to send its power will "free-spin" out of control and physically fly apart. A hybrid controller fixes this by automatically diverting that excess power into the dump load resistor, which burns it off safely as heat and acts as an electronic brake to slow the turbine down.
No,that is the main benefit of the vertical design. Traditional horizontal "propeller" turbines create a high-pitched, annoying "chopping" noise. Our ST Tulip and Flower series utilise advanced omnidirectional maglev-style bearings, making them virtually silent and completely vibration-free, all you will hear is the wind. They are perfect for suburban blocks, tight caravan parks, and areas close to neighbours.
It will turn, but turning is not charging. The blades start rotating at about 1.5 m/s — a light breeze. Charging starts once the wind clears the cut-in speed of about 3.5 m/s, and output climbs from there — the rated figure is measured at 13 m/s (about 47 km/h). A gentle breeze keeps the turbine ticking over; it takes real wind to push real power into your batteries.
You should connect the wind turbine to a battery bank first, via a dedicated charge controller, rather than directly to an inverter. Connecting a wind turbine directly to a standard inverter will damage the equipment or cause the system to fail.
🔋 The Correct Wiring SequenceTo safely capture and use the power, your setup must follow this exact order:
1. Wind Turbine: Generates wild, fluctuating 3-phase AC power as wind speeds change.
2. Hybrid/Wind Charge Controller: Converts the unstable AC power into steady DC power. It also protects the turbine from over-speeding by applying an electronic brake during high winds.
3. Battery Bank (12V/24V/48V): Acts as a buffer to store the energy. It absorbs sudden power spikes from wind gusts and provides a steady source of energy.
4. Off-Grid Inverter: Connects to the battery, converting the stored DC battery power into standard AC power for your household appliances.
⚠️ Why You Cannot Skip the Battery
- Unstable Voltage: Wind speeds change second by second. Without a battery to absorb and smooth out these massive fluctuations, a direct-connect inverter would constantly turn off and error out.
- Turbine Destruction: When a battery is full or disconnected, a wind turbine loses its "load" (resistance). Without that resistance, the blades can spin out of control in high winds and physically destroy the unit. The charge controller uses the battery connection to safely dump excess power and slow the turbine down.
Wiring & Installation Requirement:This wind turbine generates 3-phase AC power andcannotbe connected directly to a battery, solar controller, or home inverter. To operate safely, it must run through a dedicatedWind/Solar Hybrid MPPT Controller with an integrated Dump Load Resistor. The dump load prevents the turbine from over-speeding and destroying itself in high winds once your batteries are fully charged.
It is almost always one of three common installation issues. Check them in order:
1. Your multimeter is set to DC (the most common mistake).
- The issue: measuring the three turbine wires with the meter set to DC volts.
- The reality: wind turbines generate 3-phase AC power directly from the stator.
- The fix: switch your multimeter to AC volts (V~). Testing these wires on a DC setting gives a false reading near zero.
2. The turbine is stalling because of a short.
- The issue: the blades turn heavily and slowly, or lock up.
- The reality: if any of the three AC output wires touch each other, or the controller’s internal braking diodes have short-circuited, it acts as a magnetic brake — the turbine can never spin fast enough to build voltage.
- The fix: completely disconnect the turbine from the controller. If it suddenly frees up and spins much faster, the problem is a short in the wiring or a faulty controller.
3. Voltage drop from thin cables.
- The issue: thin wire run a long way from the tower to the battery shed.
- The reality: thin solar or automotive cable over a long run (20 metres or more) loses the power as heat in the wire before it reaches the controller.
- The fix: use heavy cable between the mast and the controller on long runs — minimum 8 AWG, ideally 6 AWG.
Because the number on the box is a peak rating, not a promise. A turbine’s rated output is measured at a specific wind speed — for these models that is 13 m/s, about 47 km/h — and most sites see far less most of the time. Your display shows what the wind is delivering right now, so it will sit well below the rated figure and move second by second with the wind. That is physics, not a fault.
Where these turbines earn their keep is time: they keep charging through the night and through weather that shuts solar down. If the display shows 0 W while the blades are spinning, that is a different issue — see the 0 W question below.
Not necessarily — this is one of the most common questions we get, and it's rarely a faulty unit. It's usually a quick settings check, or (on a first-time install) how the wiring and start-up sequence were done. See our full Wind Turbine 0W Troubleshooting & Installation Guide for the complete walkthrough, or contact us and we'll help you sort it out.
Short answer: wire your bus bar and breakers before and after the controller, then power up in the right order — battery first, then solar, then wind. Getting the sequence right prevents almost all wiring issues, including the common “spinning but 0 W” problem.
Correct installation comes down to isolation and the right sequence:
- Fit a breaker before the controller (turbine/solar side) and after it (battery side), landing on a DC bus bar
- Keep the turbine-to-controller cable run to 2–10 metres to limit voltage drop
- Power up in this order: battery breaker first, then solar, then wind turbine last
See our full How to Install & Start Up guide for the complete step-by-step walkthrough and wiring diagram.

Solar 12000mAh Emergency Radio Charger AM/FM Hand Crank

$135.00 AUD

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Black Dark Green Orange Green

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When the power goes, so does the information.

Cyclone season, a bad fire day, or a transformer letting go three streets over. The grid drops out and inside a few hours the phone is flat. A flat phone means no warnings coming in, no way to tell anyone where you are, and no torch either. That is where a bad afternoon starts turning into something worse.

This is a hand-crank emergency radio with a power bank built into it. It tunes AM and FM, charges a phone off a USB port, carries a torch and a fold-out reading light, and when its own battery runs down you wind the handle or open the solar panels and put a bit back in. Nothing to keep spare batteries for, and nothing to plug into a wall that is not working.

Be straight about what it is, though. It is a keep-you-going box, not a power station. The solar panels are a top-up, the crank is a get-out-of-trouble measure, and the WB button on the front is for a weather service that does not broadcast in this part of the world. All of that is set out in full under Limits.

What It Does

Keeps the news coming: AM and FM are the bands emergency broadcasters use in Australia and New Zealand, so a radio that tunes them is a radio that works on the night.
Charges the phone: a USB-A output and a USB-C port. The supplier's own port artwork states 5 V 3 A.
Makes its own power: two solar panels and a fold-out crank generator, so a flat unit is not a dead unit.
Lights the ground: a torch and COB flood panel on one end, plus a COB reading bar that flips up out of the lid.
Makes a racket: a built-in SOS alarm for drawing attention from people who are already within earshot.
Points you north: a button compass set into the top lid for a rough bearing.

Key Features

Two solar panels: one set into the top lid, and a second that slides out from under it and props up alongside.
Fold-out hand crank: a geared generator that swings out of the side panel and folds flat again for packing.
Digital display: a frequency readout, FM, AM and WB band indicators, and a four-step battery bar marked 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent.
Telescopic antenna: pulls up out of a channel along the top and stows flush when you are done.
Two separate lights: a flood panel with COB strips on one end for throwing light out, and a COB bar in the flip-up lid for close work.
Headphone socket: listen to the updates without keeping the whole camp awake.
Handle and strap: a moulded carry handle over the top with a webbing shoulder strap through it.
Fold-out stand: a prop on the back so it stands up on a table, a tailgate or the kitchen bench.
Four colourways: black, dark green, green and orange.

Limits

This is emergency gear. If it will not do something, you need to know now, not on the night.

The WB band is dead here: WB means weather band, and the supplier's own artwork calls it NOAA. That is the United States weather service, broadcasting on VHF channels between 162.400 and 162.550 MHz. Nothing transmits on those channels in Australia or New Zealand. Press WB in this country and you get silence. It is a dead position on the dial, and no firmware change will alter that.
It receives, it does not transmit: this is a broadcast receiver. There is no way to call anyone on it. Two-way communication is a UHF CB or a satellite messenger, and this is neither.
The SOS alarm is a noise: it makes a sound to draw attention from people already close by. It sends no signal, it is registered with nobody, and no one is notified when you press it. It is not a PLB or an EPIRB and it is not a substitute for one.
No water rating: no IP figure is marked on the unit and none is stated by the supplier, so we are not going to call it waterproof, and we are not going to call it water resistant either. There is a rubber flap over the port bay, which tells you the ports are meant to be covered. That is as far as the evidence goes. Keep it out of the rain.
Solar will not refill it: the two panels together cover roughly the top face of the unit. Against a battery this size that is a trickle — useful for holding a charged unit up over a long sunny day, not for bringing a flat one back. Charge it from the USB-C port before you put it away and treat the panels as insurance.
The crank output is not published: the supplier gives no figure for how much power a minute of winding produces, and we have not measured one. So this page will not tell you that one minute of cranking buys you so many minutes of radio. That number is on nearly every listing in this category and not one of them shows its working. Wind it and you will get the radio or a light going. How long for, honestly, we cannot say.
12000 mAh is a supplier claim: it is not marked on any cell visible in the photographs, and we have not tested it. The 44400 mWh figure sellers print next to it is not a second measurement - it is the same 12000 mAh multiplied by the 3.7 V cell voltage, so it stands or falls with the mAh number. Overstated capacity is common in this category. Take it as a claim rather than a measurement.
Two phone charges, not five: even taking 12000 mAh at face value, that is the rating of the cell at 3.7 V inside the box. What leaves the USB port is 5 V and the conversion costs you some of it. Plan on roughly two full charges of an ordinary phone, not the four or five the raw number suggests.
No run times we would stand behind: our supplier states no hours for the radio, the torch or the reading light. Other sellers of this identical unit quote up to 108 hours of battery life, and others quote different numbers again, none of them showing any working. This page will not pick one. The only figure they agree on is charging: about three and a half hours from flat on the USB-C port.
The compass is a rough bearing: it is a button compass moulded into the lid of a box that contains a loudspeaker magnet and a generator. Use it to work out which way is roughly north. Do not navigate off it.
Mind the heat: there is a lithium cell inside. A summer on the dashboard is hard on any lithium battery. It lives in the cab, the crib bag or the emergency box, not on the dash.

Q & A

Will it pick up emergency broadcasts in Australia and New Zealand?

Yes, on AM and FM. Emergency information in both countries goes out over ordinary AM and FM broadcast stations, and those are the bands this radio tunes. It is the WB position that is useless here, not the radio itself.

So what is the WB band on the display for?

WB is the North American weather band, run by NOAA in the United States on VHF channels between 162.400 and 162.550 MHz. The unit is built for a world market and that position is fitted whether your country uses it or not. Here it will find nothing. Stay on AM and FM.

How many times will it charge my phone?

Roughly twice for an ordinary phone, if the 12000 mAh rating is accurate. Cell capacity is quoted at 3.7 V and the USB port puts out 5 V, so you never get the full number out the other end. Anyone quoting four or five charges is reading the label rather than the output.

Can I leave it in the sun and never plug it in?

No. The panels are a trickle. They will hold a charged unit up and put a little back over a long sunny day, but taking it from flat to full on solar alone is not realistic on panels this size. Charge it from the USB-C port, keep it charged, and use the sun and the crank as the backup they are.

Is it waterproof?

No rating is stated or marked anywhere, so we will not call it that. The ports sit behind a rubber flap, which suggests it is built to shrug off a bit of weather, but nothing we can see proves a spray or immersion rating. Keep it under cover.

Can I call for help on it?

No. It only receives. The SOS alarm is a loud noise for attracting people who are already nearby, not a distress signal. If you want something that actually reaches a rescue service, that is a PLB or a satellite messenger, and this is not either of them.

Specs

Specification	Detail
Type	Hand-crank emergency radio, power bank and light
Radio bands	AM and FM. A WB (NOAA weather band) position is also fitted — it does not work in Australia or New Zealand. See Limits
Tuning range	FM 87 to 108 MHz and AM 520 to 1710 kHz, as stated by the supplier. Both take in the whole Australian and New Zealand broadcast bands. The WB position covers 162.400 to 162.550 MHz
Battery capacity	12000 mAh, or 44400 mWh (44.4 Wh), the supplier's stated figures. Not independently verified. The watt-hour number is the mAh rating multiplied by the 3.7 V cell voltage, not a separate measurement
Battery type	Rechargeable lithium polymer, built in, not user-replaceable
Charging inputs	USB-C port, two solar panels, fold-out hand crank
Output	USB-A. Supplier port artwork states 5 V 3 A
Solar panels	Two — one set in the top lid, one that slides out from the side. Output not specified by supplier
Solar charge time	Not specified by supplier
Crank output	Not specified by supplier
Lighting	End flood panel with COB strips, plus a flip-up COB reading bar in the lid
Light output	Not specified by supplier. No lumen figure published
Run time	Not specified by supplier, for radio, torch or reading light
Audio	Built-in speaker and a 3.5 mm headphone socket, as stated by the supplier
Alarm	Audible SOS alarm. Not a distress beacon and not a PLB or EPIRB
Antenna	Telescopic, extending to about 390 mm as stated by the supplier. Stows in a channel along the top
Also fitted	Button compass in the lid, fold-out stand, carry handle, webbing shoulder strap
Ingress protection	No IP rating stated by the supplier or marked on the unit
Dimensions	About 151 x 80 x 86 mm, as stated by the supplier. One listing of the same unit gives the length as 156 mm. Not measured by us
Weight	About 600 g, as stated by the supplier. Not weighed by us
Colours	Black, dark green, green, orange
Delivery	Free to Australia and New Zealand. Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you order, and up to three weeks in busy periods or to regional and remote addresses

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Wind Turbine FAQs

Summary Checklist for Your Choice
Choose the SR or ST-1200W if you want portability, low noise, and minimal investment for camping or caravans.
Choose the ST-2000, ST-3000, or ST-5000 if you have a stationary house/cabin and want to supplement solar panels at night.
Choose the ST-10kW — the largest turbine we sell — if you have heavy agricultural power needs, acreage, and a budget for proper mast engineering.
The vertical axis wind turbines listed on the BushLine Outdoor Equipment catalogue are categorised by physical design shapes, which dictate their ideal applications.
No.Wind turbines generate "wild" 3-phase AC power that changes voltage constantly with the wind speed. Connecting it directly to a battery or a standard solar inverter will instantly destroy your equipment. Youmustwire the turbine into a dedicatedWind/Solar Hybrid MPPT Controller with an integrated Dump Load Resistor. The controller converts the power to stable DC to charge your batteries safely.
You must match the turbine and its hybrid controller to the exact voltage of your existing battery bank:
- 12V: Best for compact mobile setups like caravans, 4WDs, and camper trailers.
- 24V: Great for medium-sized setups like off-grid sheds, cabins, and motorhomes.
- 48V: The gold standard for full off-grid home systems. Higher voltage means less energy loss through your wires and allows you to use thinner, safer cables.
When your battery bank becomes 100% fully charged, it stops accepting power. If a heavy wind storm hits at night when your batteries are full, a turbine with nowhere to send its power will "free-spin" out of control and physically fly apart. A hybrid controller fixes this by automatically diverting that excess power into the dump load resistor, which burns it off safely as heat and acts as an electronic brake to slow the turbine down.
No,that is the main benefit of the vertical design. Traditional horizontal "propeller" turbines create a high-pitched, annoying "chopping" noise. Our ST Tulip and Flower series utilise advanced omnidirectional maglev-style bearings, making them virtually silent and completely vibration-free, all you will hear is the wind. They are perfect for suburban blocks, tight caravan parks, and areas close to neighbours.
It will turn, but turning is not charging. The blades start rotating at about 1.5 m/s — a light breeze. Charging starts once the wind clears the cut-in speed of about 3.5 m/s, and output climbs from there — the rated figure is measured at 13 m/s (about 47 km/h). A gentle breeze keeps the turbine ticking over; it takes real wind to push real power into your batteries.
You should connect the wind turbine to a battery bank first, via a dedicated charge controller, rather than directly to an inverter. Connecting a wind turbine directly to a standard inverter will damage the equipment or cause the system to fail.
🔋 The Correct Wiring SequenceTo safely capture and use the power, your setup must follow this exact order:
1. Wind Turbine: Generates wild, fluctuating 3-phase AC power as wind speeds change.
2. Hybrid/Wind Charge Controller: Converts the unstable AC power into steady DC power. It also protects the turbine from over-speeding by applying an electronic brake during high winds.
3. Battery Bank (12V/24V/48V): Acts as a buffer to store the energy. It absorbs sudden power spikes from wind gusts and provides a steady source of energy.
4. Off-Grid Inverter: Connects to the battery, converting the stored DC battery power into standard AC power for your household appliances.
⚠️ Why You Cannot Skip the Battery
- Unstable Voltage: Wind speeds change second by second. Without a battery to absorb and smooth out these massive fluctuations, a direct-connect inverter would constantly turn off and error out.
- Turbine Destruction: When a battery is full or disconnected, a wind turbine loses its "load" (resistance). Without that resistance, the blades can spin out of control in high winds and physically destroy the unit. The charge controller uses the battery connection to safely dump excess power and slow the turbine down.
Wiring & Installation Requirement:This wind turbine generates 3-phase AC power andcannotbe connected directly to a battery, solar controller, or home inverter. To operate safely, it must run through a dedicatedWind/Solar Hybrid MPPT Controller with an integrated Dump Load Resistor. The dump load prevents the turbine from over-speeding and destroying itself in high winds once your batteries are fully charged.
It is almost always one of three common installation issues. Check them in order:
1. Your multimeter is set to DC (the most common mistake).
- The issue: measuring the three turbine wires with the meter set to DC volts.
- The reality: wind turbines generate 3-phase AC power directly from the stator.
- The fix: switch your multimeter to AC volts (V~). Testing these wires on a DC setting gives a false reading near zero.
2. The turbine is stalling because of a short.
- The issue: the blades turn heavily and slowly, or lock up.
- The reality: if any of the three AC output wires touch each other, or the controller’s internal braking diodes have short-circuited, it acts as a magnetic brake — the turbine can never spin fast enough to build voltage.
- The fix: completely disconnect the turbine from the controller. If it suddenly frees up and spins much faster, the problem is a short in the wiring or a faulty controller.
3. Voltage drop from thin cables.
- The issue: thin wire run a long way from the tower to the battery shed.
- The reality: thin solar or automotive cable over a long run (20 metres or more) loses the power as heat in the wire before it reaches the controller.
- The fix: use heavy cable between the mast and the controller on long runs — minimum 8 AWG, ideally 6 AWG.
Because the number on the box is a peak rating, not a promise. A turbine’s rated output is measured at a specific wind speed — for these models that is 13 m/s, about 47 km/h — and most sites see far less most of the time. Your display shows what the wind is delivering right now, so it will sit well below the rated figure and move second by second with the wind. That is physics, not a fault.
Where these turbines earn their keep is time: they keep charging through the night and through weather that shuts solar down. If the display shows 0 W while the blades are spinning, that is a different issue — see the 0 W question below.
Not necessarily — this is one of the most common questions we get, and it's rarely a faulty unit. It's usually a quick settings check, or (on a first-time install) how the wiring and start-up sequence were done. See our full Wind Turbine 0W Troubleshooting & Installation Guide for the complete walkthrough, or contact us and we'll help you sort it out.
Short answer: wire your bus bar and breakers before and after the controller, then power up in the right order — battery first, then solar, then wind. Getting the sequence right prevents almost all wiring issues, including the common “spinning but 0 W” problem.
Correct installation comes down to isolation and the right sequence:
- Fit a breaker before the controller (turbine/solar side) and after it (battery side), landing on a DC bus bar
- Keep the turbine-to-controller cable run to 2–10 metres to limit voltage drop
- Power up in this order: battery breaker first, then solar, then wind turbine last
See our full How to Install & Start Up guide for the complete step-by-step walkthrough and wiring diagram.

Wind Turbine FAQs

Solar 12000mAh Emergency Radio Charger AM/FM Hand Crank

Tracking

Keep an eye on your gear.