VERTICLE WIND POWER

I was trying to find something that was more compact than your standard windmill/propeller type wind generator cause I'll be honest, I don't really like the propeller kinds of wind turbines. They're noisy and that bothers me. In looking, I came across the Savonius Wind Turbine. It's not very efficient, but it produces consistent torque and is self-starting which is pretty useful for things like grinding grain and what not. Their big benefit over the prop-driven wind turbines is stability in high winds.

Researching improvements in the Savonius models lead me to the Darrieus Wind Turbine, which incorporates the Savonius ideas and in many cases uses a separate Savonius Turbine to create the power to start a small motor that helps get the Darrieus rotating. While not self starting, it's more efficient at generating energy than the Savonius.

That lead me to the Vertical Air Wind Turbine (VAWT) that incorporates both Savonius & Darrieus designs and streamlined them to be quieter and more efficient.

I've seen another variation of this somewhere that uses curved surfaces, similar to those roof vents that uses the roof line as directional plane surface to direct more wind into the turbine. I wonder if you could use the rising heat to turn the item as well? Probably not unless it can get the turbine moving over 5 mph, cause I don't think it starts generating storable energy until that point.

They all use Permanent Magnet Alternators (additional link), which benefit from a Regulator of sorts as well as something that will cut the power generation so you don't overcharge your battery bank.

Hopefully you find this shiz useful.