Parallelized Wind Power

This started as a blog post on Make
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/05/parallelized_wind_power.html

It was suggested to head over to instructables and get some stuff going here and it seemed a good idea. Also, in the meantime I found (of course) a bunch of cool wind projects here (about 20). I really like the vertical Savonius turbines. I wonder if those could be stacked with a similar effect?

I've been wanting to do a wind power project for a while, and it seems like a good one to work on with others. Here's a brainstorm to kick things off. Please add to it or suggest alternatives problems etc.

- total parts cost < $200
- leverage off the shelf parts as much as possible.
- little or no machining.
- over 100 watts, (ideally 300-500) (this could be totally unrealistic with a $200 price, not sure yet)
- usable in small yards, urban roof tops

The guys who made the original did some research for a grant and the paper is available here: http://www.speakerfactory.net/TURBINES/GRANTS/Selsam%20EISG%2002-18%20Final.doc

Alright. Hopefully this is enough to kick off some discussion and gather up interested parties. I think the first step will be to tack down goals and solidify a general approach. Ideally in the end, we can come up with a good parts list from a minimal number of sources, and an instruction set that's relatively easy. A group might also leverage some purchase power by getting some of these parts in bulk (ie. a whole bunch of airplane props).

Tim