Vertical Wind Turbine

[dwc1964]

Imagine a stack of these running up the corner of a high-rise office building in any big city's downtown - with the "wind-tunnel" effect all those buildings create. How much power could be generated that way? Enough to power such a building entirely? Even to feed some back to the grid? Even if not, it'd be something, and the wind is free.

[brucecohen69]

HEY DO U WAN TO COME DOWN TO COSTA RICA AND BUILD ME a wind turbine free stay at my hotel in exchange 9046871827

[scismgenie]

The bigger the coil the more resistance to the spin, due to magnetic field. So you need MORE torque for more amps.

[roadtoadie3]

i have absolutely no experience with wind turbines so should this be a good start?

What is the simplest way this can produce electricity?

[TonyToca30]

Good Job! I'll get my extension cord!

[onedayillpay]

could you have that thing turn a alternator to charge some car batteries

[Hoodwinker88]

Electro magnets power up woot!

[HISandman]

I love it! your in a great location to take advantage of wind power! I might try your design but how do you plan on harnessing the power from this windmill?

[embeddedprogrammer]

Hisandman and myztic123, Check out my part 2 of how to make the turbine to see the power generation system.

[HISandman]

ah yes, I did see the second part after I asked my question. The gears are nice but out of the ball park for me.. I may try something else along the lines of a belt or something.

[myztic123]

do you get some power out of it? how much?

anyway,nice video!

[DominickBlack]

Why a battery daisy chain when you can do a grid tie in ? I'm thinking you just keep adding these babies in rows and then add rows ontop of rows so you get action no matter what level the wind is blowing at.....Yeah, just keep adding units tell your electric bill disaperes alltogether...

[embeddedprogrammer]

Good point. I want to try a grid tied setup eventually, but I am going to try 12 volt first. The grid tie electronics cost around a grand (USD) and I am trying to keep this accessible to those with little dollars.

[bec9112001]

you can get a 12 volt power converter, about 50 usd and convert that energy into 120 volt and so0me watts. you could also install a reg car battery or a gen battery to store the energy and use it with the converter. it shouldn't cost anymore than 200 usd

[techforumz]

I made one from a plastic lawn ornement and costs nothing (made it from basically junk). I've got the output, but there isn't enough power for anything. Gets about 10-20mA, no idea about volts. I used the eject motor from an old CD-ROM drive.

[embeddedprogrammer]

Maybe you could run some LEDs?

[beppino1985]

complimenti. in italy i don t have see this kind of job...thank you!!

[embeddedprogrammer]

Thank you sir!

[truthspeaker2000]

pretty cool, the problem should not be

safety (in fact a conventional/ horizontal

wind generator has more problems with this issue), but the noise.

In this state you can not install it, when

you have your neighbours near to your house/ground, also you could have problems

with sleeping at night.

[embeddedprogrammer]

Yes, its not totally silent. I am working on a new one now which will be virtually silent using pillow blocks (sealed bearings) rather than the lazy susan bearings. I'm also working on a magnet/coil system to eliminate the gears in a zero-maintenance version.

[cafemondo]

Have you had a good wind yet? 50mph+? Dont stand too near it unless youve got some sort of braking system in use

[embeddedprogrammer]

It has survived wind gusts in excess of 50 mph without problems. It also has been running with snow and freezing rain. We did shovel some snow out of it a couple of times when it started accumulating in the rotors.

[cafemondo]

yeah? well Id better give you a massive thumbs up for ingenuity

kudos sir, kudos, Ive allready killed one wind turbine, discarded this idea and went for cheap 3 blade type, lasted a year before tail came off and blades snapped at some insane velocity

Id thought of this idea but had been put off by negative comments and with having one that had failed massively added to my lack of progress on my wind turbine fronts

[peper0110]

Do you tried to harnes a generator to it??

If so how many watts can you obtain???

[embeddedprogrammer]

I am working on that right now and will let you know the output of the system when it is done(hopefully less than a week). I just got back from vacation and am working on 2 systems, 1 for power generation and one for rpm and voltage sensing for statistical analysis.

[daisydear83]

This is too cool. It looks like you have the turbine positioned under a deck and there seems to be little or no wind. Amazing. I would love to have one in my garden. Were can I get one to decorate. I would like to try it out as a deterant to the birds that we have here. Thanks...Daisy

[embeddedprogrammer]

Thanks for your comment. I will send you some details on a much smaller version for your garden.