SX2-2000 2kW Vertical Axis Wind Turbine | Off-Grid Power

You cannot size a battery bank off a rated 2kW.

You are trying to work out what will actually charge your bank, and every turbine on the market is sold on one number. 2kW. 5kW. 600W. That number is a peak — what the maker says the machine produces at the wind speed they chose to rate it at. It is not what your block makes on an ordinary Tuesday, and it is not something you can plan a system around.

So here is what is actually measurable on this one, and where it stops adding up. The supplier's own dimension drawing gives the rotor as 530 mm across and 750 mm tall. That is the whole area the wind passes through — roughly four tenths of a square metre. Their own specification panel rates the machine at 2000W at 15 m/s, which is a 54 km/h wind.

Those two things do not reconcile, and we are not going to pretend they do. The energy in wind rises with the swept area and with the cube of the wind speed, and no rotor of any design can take more than about 59% of what passes through it — that is the Betz limit, and it is physics, not an opinion. A rotor 530 mm across and 750 mm tall sitting in a 15 m/s wind does not have anything like 2000W passing through it in the first place, let alone 2000W available to pull out of it. Work the numbers yourself from the two dimensions above; they are printed on the drawing in the Specs tab for exactly that reason.

So BushLine publishes no expected output for this turbine. Not a daily figure, not an hourly one, not a percentage. Real output depends on your site, your mast height and what sits upwind of you — a shed, a tree line, a hill. We have given you the supplier's rotor dimensions and told you exactly where their numbers came from. Judge it yourself, and if the numbers matter to your build, measure your wind before you spend the money.

One of the supplier's marketing banners in the gallery carries the headline "10KWh per day". That would need this rotor turning out more than 400 watts continuously, right around the clock, every day. The page does not stand behind that figure and we would not sell on it. It is left in the gallery because the banner is the supplier's own material and we would rather you saw what they claim than have us quietly crop it.

What you are buying is a three-blade vertical axis turbine in nylon, with inner drum blades on the same shaft, a three-phase permanent magnet generator and an electromagnetic brake — on its own, or with a hybrid MPPT controller that runs wind and solar through one box. Straight up: this is an assist, not a replacement. Wind covers what solar cannot — night, cloud, rain, winter — and solar covers the still days. Run them together and the year smooths out. One turbine this size will not carry a house.

What It Solves

• Stop the evening genny run: wind blows overnight, when the panels are doing nothing. Every hour the diesel stays off is fuel you have not carted in and a service you have not done.
• Charges when solar cannot: heavy cloud, a week of rain, short winter days — that is when wind tends to pick up. The two cover each other's gaps, which is the whole argument for running both.
• Nothing to point into the wind: a vertical rotor takes air from a full 360 degrees, so there is no tail vane and no yaw gear to seize up on a far paddock nobody visits for a fortnight.
• Small enough to sit somewhere sensible: 530 mm across and 750 mm of blade is a pole-top or shed-corner machine, not a tower job. You still need a mast and a proper footing.
• Measure first, buy second: put a wind anemometer up for a few weeks and you will know what your site actually does, instead of trusting anybody's rated wind speed. Including ours.

Key Features

• Rotor size published: 530 mm across and 750 mm of blade height, marked on the supplier's own dimension drawing. Most listings will not give you this. Work your own numbers from it.
• Three nylon blades, plus inner blades: the specification panel lists "with inner blades: YES", and the drum is visible between the blades on the dimension drawing. Both rotors turn the same shaft.
• Three model numbers, one product: the title says SX2-2000, the supplier's specification panel says MX3-2000, and the legend on their power chart says X3-2000W. We cannot reconcile them — see the Q & A.
• Supplier wind speeds: start-up 3 m/s (10.8 km/h), rated 15 m/s (54 km/h), safe 45 m/s (162 km/h). All three are the supplier's claims and none is independently verified.
• Three-phase permanent magnet generator: electromagnet control system, generator protection grade IP54.
• Electromagnetic braking: the panel lists an electromagnetic brake for overspeed, and the same brake plus an unloading unit for overload.
• Stated working range: −40°C to +80°C, humidity 90% or below.
• 12V, 24V and 48V on this page: the supplier's specification panel lists 12V and 24V only. Their marketing banner shows 12V/24V/48V. The 48V is not on the panel — read the Q & A before you pick it.
• Blade colour: white as standard. The panel says "white/customised", and one gallery image shows green and silver blades; white is what the dropdown sells.
• Turbine alone or with the controller: take the hybrid unit if you want wind and solar on one box, skip it if you already run a controller sized for this turbine.

The Controller Option

Choose Turbine & Hybrid controller and the box also holds the blue MPPT wind and solar hybrid system controller, its external resistor dump load and a set of battery leads. The photographs of the unit are readable, so here is what is actually printed on it.

• Terminal strip: D+ B+ B− S+ S− U V W L+ L− D−. U, V and W take the three-phase turbine output, D is the dump load, B the battery, S the solar and L the load. Give this to your sparky.
• Connection order is on the faceplate: it reads, word for word, "Please connect the dumpload and load first, then the battery, solar panel and wind turbine. No Short Circuit!"
• The dump load is the brake: it is where surplus energy goes when the bank is full, and it is what holds the turbine back. No rating is printed on it in any image we hold, and the supplier does not state its wattage or resistance. Have your electrician confirm it suits your system voltage before you commission it.
• Mount the controller indoors or in a sealed enclosure. No water rating is stated for it. The turbine lives outside; the controller does not.
• Lightning protection is not supplied: if you are somewhere lightning-prone, have your electrician fit it as part of the install. It protects the whole system, not just this controller.
• No controller rating is published: the supplier gives no model number, no maximum charging current and no wattage for this controller. We will not print a figure we cannot source, and you must not size cable or breakers from the wattage in a product title.

Need a different wind-to-solar ratio? If your panel array is much bigger or smaller than the turbine, our standalone MPPT hybrid controllers come in a range of mixed combinations.

What Else You'll Need

A turbine on a pole is only half a system. This is the gear that goes between it and your batteries, and why it matters.

• 3-pin Anderson plug: wire one in between the turbine and the controller and you can unplug the whole turbine — drop it for maintenance, swap it out, or take it off the van before you travel. Five minutes' work and you will thank yourself later.
• Bus bars: where everything lands before it reaches the battery. Properly rated 48V bus bars are genuinely hard to find — most of what is sold online is light-duty gear. There is also a 500A marine version.
• Breakers and isolators: every input and output wants a breaker or isolator on it, so you can shut down and isolate the turbine before you touch anything. That protects you, and it stops a surge damaging the turbine or the rest of your system. Also a DIN-rail mini breaker and a rotary isolator.
• Cable and lugs: flexible copper cable, shielded 2 and 3 core, and a lug crimper if you are making up your own runs.

Straight up on cable sizing: it depends on your run length, your system voltage and your current, and every setup is a bit different. What we stock covers 48V systems and shorter runs well. If you are building 12V or 24V, check the sizing against your own run and talk to your sparky — we would rather you fitted the right cable than the one we happen to have on the shelf.

See the full electrical range

Q & A

Will it really make 2000W?

The supplier's specification panel says 2000W at 15 m/s, and 2050W maximum. We cannot make that agree with a rotor 530 mm across and 750 mm tall, and we have set out why at the top of this page. Treat the 2kW the way you would treat a model name — it tells you which unit you are buying, not what it will put into your batteries.

Then what will it make?

We do not publish a figure, and we would not trust one that anybody else published either. Output depends on your average wind speed, how high the rotor sits, and what is upwind blocking or churning the air. Two identical turbines 500 metres apart will not make the same power. Get an anemometer up first if the number matters to your build.

Why tell me this at all? It is not a great sales pitch.

Because someone sizing a battery bank off a rated wattage ends up short of power on the night they needed it, and then it is our problem as well as theirs. We would rather sell you a turbine you understand than one you are disappointed by.

Why does this page carry three different model numbers?

Because the supplier's own material does. The product title here is SX2-2000. Their specification panel image is headed MX3-2000. The legend on their power chart reads X3-2000W. All three sit on the same listing and describe the same machine, and we cannot reconcile them — we have not been given a manual or a data sheet that settles which is the real part number. If you are matching a spare, a blade set or a replacement generator, quote all three and the rotor dimensions rather than trusting one of them.

Which voltage do I pick, and what about the 48V?

Match your existing battery bank. Here is the honest position on 48V: the supplier's specification panel lists the rated voltage as 12V/24V only. Their marketing banner shows 12V/24V/48V. So the 48V option on this page is supported by the banner and not by the panel, and no separate 48V data sheet has been supplied to us. We have set the option out plainly rather than quietly listing it — if you are building 48V, that is the state of the evidence, and it is worth having your electrician confirm the generator and controller you receive are wound and set for the bank you are charging.

What are the inner blades for?

The panel lists "with inner blades: YES" and the drum is visible between the blades on the dimension drawing. A drum rotor is a drag device — wind simply pushes it — while curved outer blades work by lift and make more power once they are moving. Makers put both on one shaft because a drag rotor is better at breaking out of a standstill. That is the general principle behind the arrangement; the supplier's 3 m/s start-up figure is their claim, not something we have measured, so we are not going to tell you the drum is the reason for it.

Do I need the controller?

You need a controller of some kind — you cannot wire a turbine straight to a battery. The output is unregulated three-phase AC that rises and falls with the wind. The controller rectifies it, manages the charge and brakes the turbine when the bank is full. The "Turbine only" option assumes you already have that side sorted and sized for this machine.

What order do I connect it in?

The controller's own faceplate says it, word for word: "Please connect the dumpload and load first, then the battery, solar panel and wind turbine. No Short Circuit!" Do it in that order. A turbine with no load on it and nowhere to dump can free-run, and shorting the three-phase output to stop it is not a braking method, it is a way to cook a stator.

How important is the dump load, really?

It is the brake. When the battery is full the controller has to send the turbine's energy somewhere, and the dump load resistor is where it goes. If that resistor is undersized, disconnected, or fails open, the turbine loses what is holding it back and can overspeed — and an overspeeding rotor is a mechanical failure waiting to happen, not just a charging fault. No wattage or resistance is printed on the resistor in any image we hold and the supplier states none, so we cannot tell you what it is rated at. Have your electrician verify it against your system voltage before commissioning, and never run the turbine with the dump load disconnected.

Is it noisy?

No measured figure is specified on the supplier's specification panel. One of their marketing images carries "Low Noise <30db", with no test distance and no test method given, so we do not stand behind it. What is fair to say is that vertical-axis rotors run at a lower tip speed than horizontal ones and generally do not make the same mechanical roar. We have no measured number for this turbine and will not quote one.

Is it waterproof?

The specification panel gives the generator protection grade as IP54. That is protection against dust and against splashing water from any direction — it is a weather rating, not an immersion rating. A separate marketing image says "waterproof coating"; the IP54 figure is the one to plan around, because it is the one on the specification panel. The controller has no water rating stated at all and belongs indoors or in a sealed box.

Can I put it up in cyclone country?

The supplier gives a safe wind speed of 45 m/s, which is 162 km/h. That is their claim and we have sighted no certificate for it. It is also only half the question — in a cyclone region the mast, the footing and the fixings carry the load, and that is an engineering job for whoever signs off your install, not something a turbine specification settles. Ask your installer, and design the structure for your region rather than for the number on the panel.

How high should it go?

Higher is better — wind speed climbs and turbulence drops the further you get above roofs, sheds and tree lines. The supplier states no mast fitting size for this unit, and the specification panel we hold gives no mount height, so we are not going to invent either. What we can tell you is that other listings for this model, and the maker's own site for its other small vertical turbines, put the mount height at 2 to 12 metres. Treat that as the range the machine is sold for, not as a figure for your site or your pole. A mounting flange is supplied with the controller option; the mast or pole is not included, and the pole engineering is on you or your installer.

Can I run it alongside my solar panels?

Yes, and you should. Solar carries summer and daylight, wind carries winter and overnight. Neither one covers the year on its own, and the hybrid controller option puts both through a single unit with one display.

Will one of these run my house?

Almost certainly not, and be wary of anyone who says otherwise. For a machine this size think battery charging, lighting, pumps, a shed, a gate or a van — genuine loads, but not a whole property.

Is the output AC or DC?

Both, at different stages. The shaft drives a generator producing unregulated three-phase AC. That goes through the rectifier in the charge controller and comes out as DC, which can run DC appliances directly, charge a bank, or feed an inverter for 240V. If it is charging a battery, the voltage has to match the bank.

Do I need an electrician?

Yes. Wind turbines and charge controllers must be installed by a qualified specialist. Damage from DIY installation or improper wiring is not covered — see our Return Policy.

What is in the box?

The turbine — hub, blade arms, blades, generator and the inner drum — with its bolts and screws, plus an Allen wrench and a mounting flange. Choose the controller option and the hybrid controller, its dump load resistor and battery leads come with it. The mast or pole is not included.

How long does delivery take?

Delivery is 10 to 14 days from the day you order, and we ask you to allow up to 3 weeks. Large turbines can take up to 5 weeks, and regional or remote addresses longer again. Shipping is free to Australia and New Zealand.

Specs

Read this before the table. Every performance figure below is the supplier's own claim, taken from their specification panel, their dimension drawing and their power chart, and is labelled as such. BushLine publishes no output figure for this turbine. Where a specification is not stated on the supplier material we hold, the row says so rather than carrying a guess.

The Supplier's Specification Panel

This is the panel every figure in the table above is taken from. It is reproduced here so you can read it yourself rather than take our word for it — including the model number, which does not match the one in the title.

Rotor Dimensions

The two numbers to work from. Everything on this page about what the wind can and cannot deliver starts here.

The Supplier's Power Chart

The chart the 2000W figure comes from, above their own system layout. Note the legend: it reads X3-2000W, a third model number again. Compare the curve against the rotor dimensions above and draw your own conclusion.

The Controller Supplied

Typical Off-Grid Wiring Layout

Turbine Spinning But Showing 0W?

It is almost never a faulty turbine or controller. Read the 0W troubleshooting and correct installation guide before you assume something is broken.

Watch Me

Third-party footage on vertical-axis turbines generally. It is not this unit and it is not our filming — it is here because it shows how a vertical rotor behaves, not as a claim about what this one produces.