My Home-Made 0$ DIY Vertical Axis VAWT prototype concept

here is another one of my DIY builds

its currently not powering anything, and it should have a shroud diffuser, but here it is, its been spinning all summer long, even with no diffuser which causes resistance on the front of the blade, even though its only 5 ft off the ground, and its surrounded by buildings and a fence.

i planned on it having a diffuser to eliminate drag on the front of the blades and to direct the wind directly into the back of the blades, and ive planned on having magnets on the wheels, and copper coils on the framework.

it cost me 0$ thus far, and i built it from 100% recycled scrap.  

the magnets and rest might be the only things i would have to buy, but some people might already have magnets and coil wire.

im too busy to finish it this year, but i thought i'd show it to you guys.  i would have resin cored coils, or iron-less cored coils, to reduce drag.  there is very little drag after a diffuser shroud is placed around the VAWT, when using magnets and iron-less coils.

if nothing else, its a good lawn ornament, or conversation piece lol

heres a canadin winter update, spinning in a blizzard.  it has never frozen and it rarely ever stops

Interesting.  I would like to try one myself.

The bicycle bearings have been spinning for about 3 or 4 seasons straight and they seem to just keep going lol.   Not much load on them like there would be with an adult sitting on a bicycle so they might last longer than a typical bicycle bearing.   I think it's successful for a prototype so now I can go ahead and put magnets on the wheels and iron-less copper coils on the framework, to create some free sustainable renewable energy.   Even if it's only enough to charge a cellphone I'd be happy.  

It can be more efficient with a slight blade modification and a direction diffuser around the outside, but as I said, it was mostly a proof of concept prototype if I could build something with free scrap I had laying around.

Any update on this wonderful contraption? Did you ever get it hooked up? If so, do you have any idea how much power it has generated?

the bicycle bearings were a genius idea!!

Although I had made a large stable base, I found it laying knocked over one day, it was very stable and I documented it in strong wind so I'm curious as how it was knocked over, breaking 3 out of 6 vane blades.  It's still working and spinning away with 3 blades but I plan on repairing and adding larger blades later with a slight different shape.  I want to attach a small cordless drill motor for a generator but I've been distracted by bigger projects lately.  

I'm currently converting g a 14ft camper trailer into a 5x11 utility float / toy hauler

Thanks for the interest and reminding me to continue with updates.  I will try to do more on this VAWT sooner rather than later and post updates :)   I've also got a micro solar setup waiting for me to assemble with 3 40 watt panels, inverter, controller, and a couple big batteries.  Haven't got around to that one yet either.