The wind system you describe is similar to that developed by a company in France called Gual Industries.

Here is their web site:
http://www.gual-industrie.com/

Regards

Jean Paul trude

Actually, they are modified Savonius-type horizontal generator invented many decades ago. The central problem that all prior wind generators have never solved is how to protect the wind-force harvest device on the return stroke as it is facing into the wind. The Savonius-style suffers more than most concepts and therefore lost the competitive race due to inherent design deficiencies.

A second problem all generators of all types face is the trade-off from wind-intercept versus missed-wind flow. The "swept area" is the "box" or "disc" which represents all of the possible positions which the wind harvest mechanism cam sweep through each cycle. Both props and savonius horizontal devices allow large volumes of air to stream through between the force interceptor surfaces. This is necessary as a sold object, like a wall or flat disc, harvests nothing: the wind bounces off it and builds a pressure wave in front of it and bypasses around the obstruction.

Finding the most perfect "sweet spot" between nothing-at-all gained and maximum theoretical output has occupied designers for at least 600 years. Most modern designs only intercept 10% or less of the total air passing through the swept area. The illustrated design shows the center left vane clearly in opposition to the oncoming wind in its center visible portion, and the vane on the right is showing 50% useless edge facing the wind.

Looking through the vanes at the sky behind shows you how much of the total wind contributes nothing whatsoever.

The argument that 10,000 kWhs are produced per year is an average of slighly more than one kWh per hour. Keep that in mind when comparing other generators for price and performance.

The cost of a tower to get above the ground boundry layer, above the friction and turbulence of buildings and treetops, may easily be higher than the small-sized power turbine itself.

I am not sure that I recall reading anywhere that Bucky advocated "everyman for himself and let the devil take the hindmost". I seriously doubt that "doing more with less" is compatible with myriads of home wind generators rather than a community generator distributing power through wires to homes. All those redundant power storage systems at each house, all those individual towers on every lot, all those seperately maintained machines -- it just seems so counter to everything I ever read by Fuller.

There are cases where people are remote and stringing wires is more expensive than having a homestead power plant on premises, but then a whole slew of oher issues pops up about sprawl, about disruption of local ecologies and human footprint sizes comes up. Over and over and over again Buckminster Fuller was making models and promoting close togetherness instead of diaspora scattered. True his Dymaxion House early in his career could be thought of as promoting instant sprawl, but later in life he had oceanic floating cities of 100,000 population and domed cities, which was the opposite of dispersal and redundancy.

On a personal level I prefer the mature Fuller rather than the brash younger Fuller. Therefore I carry on further the work of the mature version of Fuller in my designs and proposals.

Sincerely, Lion Kuntz, Sonoma County, California, USA.

http://www.ecosyn.us/Ecovillage/ Ecocities, Palaces For The People, Octet Truss Updated, Ecological Synergy Microfarming, H2-PV = 26,280 kg H2 from an acre of PV per year.

I have conceptualized a wind generation structure which is both ugly and beautiful.

In order to understand it's beauty and ugliness I inserted it into various photographs of scenery to see what it would look like in tha same context.

This is what came of all that:
http://h2-pv.us/wind/Introduction_01.html
http://h2-pv.us/wind/scenery/scenery.html
http://h2-pv.us/wind/visual_impacts/visual_impacts.html
http://h2-pv.uss/wind/Big_01.html
http://h2-pv.us/wind/strip_mining/strip_mining.html
http://h2-pv.us/wind/towers_prior_art/towers_prior_art.html

These wing generation structures are named Eagle's Roosts to make it plain that they have no hazardous moving parts on the outside of the power plant.

Sincerely, Lion Kuntz, Sonoma County, California, USA.

http://www.ecosyn.us/Ecovillage/ Ecocities, Palaces For The People, Octet Truss Updated, Ecological Synergy Microfarming, H2-PV = 26,280 kg H2 from an acre of PV per year.

Thank you for your reply and I await some comments when you've studied this with some of your 'technical' friends.
I have also submitted to 'expert' for some comments.
I must say that when I first saw these particular wind gens I thought that they 'could have been invented by Bucky' simply because of their 'very pure natural forms'and seemed to have fundamental 'aerodynamique correctness' compared with some of the gigantic propeller type aeorgens.
Also I have always thought in a 'Buckian way' that 'small is beautiful' and 'simple is best'. As the French say "why make it complicated when you can make it simple". Of course their technical (and financial !!)limits and performance need to be justified, but here in very windy Brittany, I need something that won't go all pear shape (or simply stop or collaspe) when some of those northwesterly gales come rushing in off the Atlantic and hit us right between the eyes in our front line seat.
Incidentally Bucky is almost unknown in France, and my knowledge of him goes back to the 60's as a young design student in UK (I'm British despite my name)wanting to change the world. I didn't go off and live in a cardboard Buckydome with PV panels, eating natural food and chanting 'ban the bomb', but I havn't lost all my dreams, and people like Bucky are reason for it.
JPT

Great posting and beautiful products too! I have the very same questions as you do. I am part of a small volunteer committee in my town that is renovating an old 1800 sf structure for a non profit land conservance group. I have been interested in small scale wind applications and will share these products with our engineer and architect and with another fellow I recently met named Kevin Jeffery. Kevin wrote the Independant Energy Guide which you may find of interest. (See below)

Your question would also be a great one to pose to Jay Baldwin via the "ask the expert" program on the BFI.org home page.

I will post my findings after I get comments from our engineer and Kevin.
***********************************

Independent Energy Guide
Electrical Power for Home, Boat & RV
Kevin Jeffrey
Energy Independence and more!

With this comprehensive guide you can plan the ideal independent power system for your home, boat or RV. You'll understand how a power system works, be able to talk intelligently with equipment suppliers about your needs, and have the necessary tools to make and manage your own electricity.

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The author shows that living independently does not mean being isolated or doing without, but rather having the opportunity and the ability to take control of your life, to live simply yet elegantly, and to have the courage to follow your own path when convention defies common sense. More and more people are realizing that independence of this nature tends to empower individuals, strengthen families and rejuvenate small communities.

Independent Energy Guide helps you achieve an element of independence in your life. It supersedes Boatowner's Energy Planner, a previous work by Kevin Jeffrey. Here's what the critics had to say about his ability to make this technical topic come alive for the reader:

"Kevin Jeffrey has produced an eminently readable book that enables boat owners to design the optimum system to solve their energy needs."
- Cruising World "Editor's Choice"

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"Offshore

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"Dolphin Book Club "Book Of The Month Selection"

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"SAIL Magazine

About the Author
Kevin Jeffrey has worked as an alternative energy designer, builder and writer for the past 20 years. He and his wife, Nan, co-authored Adventuring With Children, an inspirational family guide to independent world travel. Kevin and Nan are currently working on a series of books outlining the various elements of an independent life-style, and how those elements can serve as a life-line for modern families.