The cabin battery's night shift. An off-grid cabin runs on sunlight and arithmetic. The panels fill the bank by mid-afternoon, and from then on everything — fridge, pump, lights, chargers — is spending. In summer the sums work. In winter, with short days and a week of cloud, they stop working, and the generator ends up doing the night shift. The M4-600 is the step up from a caravan-sized turbine: a 1.85 m three-blade rotor on a 20 kg machine, rated 600 W. It starts turning at 2 m/s and begins charging at 3 m/s, and it works when the panels cannot — through the night, and through exactly the windy grey systems that flatten solar for days. Straight up about the numbers: the 600 W rating is measured at 12 m/s — a 43 km/h wind. On a decent 7 m/s breeze you will see about 230 W, running around the clock. That is the honest arithmetic, and it is still a lot of amp hours by morning. What It Actually Makes Wind speed Feels like Output 4 m/s (14 km/h) Light breeze 35 W 5 m/s (18 km/h) Flags start to lift 85 W 6 m/s (22 km/h) Steady inland breeze 153 W 7 m/s (25 km/h) Decent coastal day 231 W 8 m/s (29 km/h) Good working breeze 323 W 9 m/s (32 km/h) Strong breeze 430 W 10 m/s (36 km/h) Windy 538 W 11 m/s (40 km/h) Very windy 600 W 12 m/s (43 km/h) Rated wind speed 620 W 13 m/s (47 km/h) Peak output 625 W That is the manufacturer's own measured curve. At a steady 7 m/s this turbine makes about 231 W — not 600 W — and we would rather you knew that before you bought it. What It Solves The winter deficit: short days and long nights flip the cabin's energy budget negative. Wind keeps depositing while the panels are dark. The week of grey: a slow front can sit on your solar for days — and blow the whole time. This is the machine for that week. The hobby farm shed: pressure pump, tools, a fridge and lighting on a bank that has to survive the weekend you are not there. The telecom hut problem: repeaters and monitoring gear draw day and night; a 24-hour source suits a 24-hour load. Less generator time: every windy night is diesel not burnt and a service pushed further out. Key Features 600 W rated at 12 m/s, peaking at 625 W — with the full measured curve published above. 24V or 48V: 48V halves the current of 24V for the same power, so longer cable runs get cheaper. 1.85 m three-blade rotor: reinforced nylon-fibre blades, 900 mm each, on a die-cast aluminium body. Starts early: turning at 2 m/s, charging from 3 m/s (11 km/h). Built to survive 50 m/s: 180 km/h — genuine cyclone-belt figures. If your site sees worse, tell us and we will say so. Permanent magnet generator: 3-phase AC synchronous, NdFeB magnets, IP54, auto yaw into the wind. Two layers of protection: electromagnetic brake for overspeed, controller over-current protection plus dump load for overload. Two controller choices: the HECR wind-solar hybrid (runs panels too) or the pure-wind WCMD MPPT — pick either as a kit, or take the turbine only. Kit, Or Turbine Only The kit pairs the turbine with the manufacturer's matched hybrid controller for your voltage — LHECR0824 on 24V, LHECR1248 on 48V — plus the dump-load resistor. The hybrid part matters: the same box takes a solar array on a PWM input (up to 1000 W of PV on the 24V unit, 1200 W on the 48V), so one controller runs the turbine and the panels together. Never going to run solar? Pick With Pure-Wind Controller for the manufacturer's pure-wind WCMD unit instead — LWCMD800W-24V on 24V, LWCMD800W-48V on 48V, no PV input at all. Already sorted for control? Pick Turbine only. What Else You'll Need A mast in clean air, cable sized for the run, breakers and an isolator, and a battery bank to feed. Cable sizing depends on run length, voltage and current — that is your electrician's call. Browse bus bars, breakers and wiring in the Electrical Supplies collection, and the full controller range here. Representative photos: the manufacturer supplies one set of photographs per turbine family, not per model. The M4-600 you receive is this design, at the sizes in the spec table. Limits It is not 24/7 power. It makes power when the wind blows and none when it drops. Pair it with solar and a properly sized bank; do not plan a household around the rated wattage. The rated figure needs a 43 km/h wind. Most sites, most of the time, will see a fraction of 600 W. The output table on this page is the honest planning number. We stock the 3-blade version only — 1.85 m rotor, 900 mm blades, confirmed by the manufacturer. If you have seen a 5-blade M4-600 elsewhere, that is a different build we do not sell. No charging current in amps is published for the matched controllers, and we will not invent one by dividing watts by volts. Do not size cable or breakers from the wattage in any product title. No certification claim. We have sighted no certificate that names this model, so we make no CE or RCM claim for it. It is not plug-and-play. Professional installation by a licensed electrician is a warranty condition — keep the invoice. And be aware the manufacturer treats blade damage from consistently extreme wind, and motor burnout after prolonged high-speed running, as case-by-case assessments rather than automatic cover. Q & A Will it really make 600 watts? In a 43 km/h wind, yes — the measured curve crosses 600 W at about 11 m/s and peaks at 625 W. On a typical usable breeze of 5 to 8 m/s you will see roughly 85 to 320 W, day and night. Plan off the table above, not the title. Does the kit controller take solar panels? Yes. The HECR series is a wind-solar hybrid: wind charges through MPPT and a solar array connects to the same unit on PWM — up to 1000 W of PV on the 24V model, 1200 W on the 48V. Never running panels? Pick With Pure-Wind Controller — the WCMD unit has no PV input at all. Is the cable from the turbine AC or DC? AC. The turbine generates 3-phase AC; the rectifier inside the controller converts it to DC, and the DC charges the battery. The voltage on the tower cable rises with rotor speed — which is why the controller is built to take far more than the nominal battery voltage on its input. Cable selection and protection are your electrician's job. 24V or 48V — which should I run? Match the battery bank you already have. Starting fresh with a longer cable run, 48V moves the same power at half the current of 24V, which means thinner, cheaper cable and less loss. There is no 12V version of this turbine. Can I mount it on the roof? Yes — 3 to 6 m above the roofline, or 6 to 10 m on a ground mast. Clean air is output: every metre above the turbulence pays for itself. What happens to it in a storm? The electromagnetic brake and the controller's overspeed protection wind it back, and the machine is built to survive 50 m/s (180 km/h). If your site regularly sees more than that, this is the wrong machine for it. How long until it arrives? Built to order — allow 6 to 8 weeks. Delivery is free to Australia and New Zealand. The kit arrives as separate boxes: the turbine, and the controller with its dump load. Specs Specification Detail Rated power 600 W at 12 m/s (43.2 km/h) Maximum power output 625 W Rated voltage 24 V / 48 V Maximum voltage output 26.4 / 52.8 V Start-up wind speed 2 m/s (7.2 km/h) Cut-in wind speed 3 m/s (10.8 km/h) Rated wind speed 12 m/s (43.2 km/h) Survival / safe wind speed Up to 50 m/s (180 km/h) Rotor diameter 1.85 m (1850 mm) Blade length 900 mm Number of blades 3 Blade material Reinforced nylon fibre Body material Reinforced die-cast aluminium Magnet material NdFeB Generator type 3-phase AC permanent magnet synchronous generator Over-speed protection Electromagnetic brake Overload protection Controller over-current protection + dump load Wind direction adjustment Auto yaw Generator protection grade IP54 Working temperature -20°C to +50°C Working humidity 0-90% RH (non-condensing) Mount height Ground: 6-10 m; rooftop: 3-6 m above the roofline Design life 20+ years Warranty 1 year Colour White Net weight 20 kg Gross weight 22 kg Packing size 1100 × 400 × 300 mm The Kit Controller Specification LHECR0824 (24V kit) LHECR1248 (48V kit) Controller type Wind-solar hybrid (wind MPPT + PV PWM) Rated wind power Up to 800 W Rated PV power Up to 1000 W total system Up to 1200 W total system Battery voltage 24 V 48 V Max wind input voltage 80 V Max PV input voltage 55 V 95 V Maximum battery charging current Not specified by supplier — do not size cable or breakers from the wattage in the product title Wind protection Reverse-current, over-voltage, over-current, over-speed and manual dump Display LCD Communications Bluetooth built in Installation Wall-mounted, natural cooling Controller size 162 × 145 × 61.8 mm Net weight 1.9 kg Wire the system this way — follow this diagram, not the drawing in the supplier datasheet: The Pure-Wind Controller Option Specification LWCMD800W-24V (24V kit) LWCMD800W-48V (48V kit) Controller type Pure-wind MPPT (no PV input at all) Battery voltage 24 V 48 V Max wind power 800 W Max wind input voltage 80 V 180 V Wind charging method Boost / buck / boost-buck MPPT Unloading External unloading — dump-load resistor included with the controller; an enclosed resistance box is available as an optional extra Load output None Protection Over-voltage, over-current, reverse connection, over-speed and dump-load protection Display Built-in LCD Working temperature -20°C to +55°C Static loss 1.8 W or less Warranty 1 year Maximum battery charging current Not specified by supplier — do not size cable or breakers from the wattage in the product title The pure-wind kit wires this way — wind only, no solar input:
With Hybrid Controller, With Pure-Wind Controller, Turbine only