2206 The RidgeBlade Wind Turbine And Understanding It

[@chrissscottt]

What's most appealing to me about this type of turbine is the use of the roof slope to effectively capture more wind.

[@gee3883]

If like the last example shown a flat ish material is used or say slate it would be even more efficient than the clay tiles in the first example.

[@woodworks2123]

The ridge blade is such a simple design I'm sure people could knock up their own version quite easily. Certainly worth a bash.

[@klausnielsen1537]

Very much appreciate the information packed into this one. As you have also found there is little data flowing around our there on these. Thanks you for digging it up and presenting it so clearly 😊

[@mfortune8]

Well done , I am now informed of types . Excellent concise language delivered humbly. Thanks Robert

[@larrystrayer8336]

I have really enjoyed the wind turbines series you are doing. I’m getting ready to do a solar panel array and using horizontal turbines as additional power. Here in Mississippi we can go for a week with cloud and drizzle rain. But during this time we have an abundance of wind.

[@HK-hy9od]

Can you share the info about your setup?

[@mrpants8976]

I remember hearing about this in the past and also the other version that was made for flat roofs like on commercial buildings with a catchment hood to collect the air current that flows over the top of the building after hitting the side, like the windbox from innoenergy.

[@OZtwo]

Oh cool perfect timing..trying my hand at making a vertical turbine today. (on 5th print design) What I found interesting is that my version 3 seemed to work the best as it was more or less vibrating with no wind at all. Using FreeCAD.

[@IowaKeith]

I've been tinkering and printing vawts the last couple weeks as well. Been working on squirrel cage design mostly.

[@kennethkeen1234]

Hawts are the future for city people. House encased in glass and remote control ventilation outlets at the top where the hawt sits. 2024 02 07 13:50

[@RobStillwell]

Great video. I saw this company and was super interested. I think these would make so much sense for UK housing

[@jeffcampsall5435]

We travelled around Scotland and Ireland last (2023) May and pulled over along the roadway to take in the view. There was a vendor selling out of her car. We got to chatting which is when I learned about why there was little to know trees thanks to the King of Britain. She also said because of the wind, young saplings are not likely to survive. I mentioned that we saw a few large commercial installations of wind turbines but only about 2 home generators. She said it’s because they don’t mess with the esthetics of these old towns and farms 😳 After we left I got to thinking why not either add horizontal turbines to the already existing stone walls that were parallel to the wind or install “fake” stone walls that the turbine could sit down into . The slope of the hills act as the wind collector.

[@manfromsnowy]

As an architect you start with models for the politics of today, when only "monkey see Monkey do", is what we have to start with, Government being the Big Monkey, start with schools and educational infrastructure. plan to first (small) experiment) demountable if necessary, why not make them to look like cars. then all you are doing is doing what we have always done, cars lying idle on the curb while the owner uses it 1hour a day. Have mobile windmills and only use them at night. Any more bright ideas to satisfy the NIMBY present we now have dealing with emergencies, like Global Warming.

[@NeilHardy-i4l]

Yes I’ve lusted after one of these since I first saw them about a year ago. I live in a windy area surrounded by commercial turbines and reckon my electricity costs would be negligible. It’s just getting hold of one. Thanks for this please keep us updated as to costs and availability if someone gets their finger out and actually starts to produce a cost effective model in the UK

[@Remy.S7]

i'm a huge fan =)

[@ElizabethGreene]

Note for editor: There's about 10 seconds of black screen at 5:33. It doesn't impact the video quality. Thanks!

[@123insometree]

Government doesn't want you to see what he was trying to show

[@RandomAxeOfKindness]

In the 1990s, there was some hullabaloo about a modular crossflow rooftop system called a LIMPET system, which was an acronym for something or other. The unusual feature of it was that it was basically a squirrel cage turbine that was flexible rather than rigid, so that from the end it was an ellipse instead of a circle. It was segmented, I think, so that it was effectively more like a tractor tread than a wheel. The theoretical advantage of this was that the area struck usefully by the wind was large (elongated) compared to the leading and trailing edges. You'd place it on your roof with the trailing edge at the peak, and a guide directly wind coming up the roof onto the top of the flattened squirrel cage sort of thing. My first question after assuming that it did work (there were working models from some U.S. university) was how it held up over time, but it's one of those things I never heard of again. Which is a shame, because I'd like to see a wide-belt-instead-of-wide-wheel crossflow turbine in action.

[@Charlie-Oooooo]

Informative and inspiring! 👍

[@gingerdude94]

I love you enthusiasm

[@stupidscruff]

I've got one kicking around I removed from a duff tower fan a while ago, think I need to have a play 😊

[@mikejones-vd3fg]

I salvaged a fan like this, not sure what it was from but i took it to the creek and stuck it in the fast water and managed 0.090mV .. I had to learn about 3 phase motors first but it did work better wedge beetween some rocks that acted like guides for the water, but still not efficiennt with the wide open space in the middle. I can see how these can move a lot of air quickly at some point the speed out does the volume and they can have relatively small areas blades moving not a lot of air but quickly.

[@PeterGMerchant]

Thanks for doing this video. Most interesting. I mentioned it to you a few months ago in a comment. The one at the end of the video is a bit too large for my double garage, but I have long thought that otherwise it would be a good solution for me.

[@fonwoolridge]

Great video...a lot of info, given quickly, precisely and simply... subbed!

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

Awesome, thank you!

[@APBinVTA]

I do worry about the wildlife winding up in some of those designs. Im sure they factored that in to it, but I missed it if they did ... Thank you for another great video! Well done!

[@joschmoyo4532]

I have a double version of one of those that came out of a ducted heating system. They make fantastic air filter's. High volume, low noise, low power draw.

[@neilpike6758]

When the planning consent is no longer a problem someone will build and sell ridge mounted turbines, but it is a safe bet that it will not happen in our life times. Maybe if there was an environmental crisis caused by fossil fuel burning things might change but since there is obviously no "crisis" nothing is really being done to move things forward in planning consent terms.

[@Junkboy888]

i love the ideal of that type of turbine. I wonder if a centrifugal device on the fan can stop over spin by closing the incoming air area or vanes.

[@thedustmancometh]

Thanks Robert, I’ve been looking into these- just nifty stuff!

[@justtinkering6713]

Build and install one of those and hope to hell the weather patterns don't change .

[@lezbriddon]

On a motorway the movement of the vehicles stirs and pushes the air, with lots of vehicles this flow of traffic creates a flow of air, this flow of air actually reduces drag on the following vehicles, so if you add gantry wind turbines they extract power from it, but you dont get something for nothing, so they will slow the air, which increases drag back to the vehicles passing underneath, this increased drag reduces vehicle efficiency causing more fuel to be used, so this form of generation is thus fossil fuel powered.....

[@kennethkeen1234]

Absolutely. Glad someone else bothered to mention this .

[@UnknownUser-pf9rk]

You should totally sell your voice for documentary films and the like 😄

[@rayg436]

Cheers mate 😊

[@Brad.W]

Interesting all 15 ridge vent turbines I had installed on my home all stand vertical and our design in a way that whichever direction the wind is coming from it opens up.

[@steveasher9239]

Good one mate! Thanks

[@360srimankamalprithamtharr8]

I love you Raja❤

[@geoffhanbury4978]

These would be good in our county of Pembrokeshire Wales where we have very regular wind from the SW, albeit often too strong for these devices during the gale season.

[@TerrorTubbie666]

Is it me or would it be pretty easy to make a flap that's held down flat on the roof by gravity and gets pulled/blown up by the wind at windspeeds higher than 20m/s, so it disrupts the airflow into the turbine??? Just break the wind, not the turbine.

[@thebigreddub]

What seems to me like a fairly obvious improvement to the ridge blade would be to have the structure open at the ends to allow wind to flow throught from any direction. Currently it seems that if the wind is blowing from the side, the turbine will be stationary. Of course, capturing this wind would mean that you would probably also need to make the blades helical, so the device would be more difficult to make and therefor more expensive. I suppose there's always swings and roundabouts.

[@OrenBlau]

reminds me of "Waters Turbine" by Mike Waters

[@DerekCawley]

Could you combine the wind deflector effect of a roof with a horizontal pipe vibration generator as shown previously? Love the videos.

[@larrystrayer8336]

A follow up question. I’m assuming that for a roofline turbine it would need to be in the prevailing wind direction. My area we often have directional change during the day 180° is not unusual. I’m thinking that my best choice would be a vertical turbine. That can operate at low wind velocities. 2-20 m/s Your opinion please. As I’m just getting into wind power as a supplement to solar. I have done local research and we have many days and nights with winds that a low wlnd speed turbine may be as good as solar to charge my off grid batteries

[@uscitizen5656]

I have an idea for you Sir! How's about building a solar tracking Airfoil with Flexible Solar Panels on the front and then mount O-Wind type devices to the wings trailing edge. When the sun's out you get that power, plus any wind and when it's windier than solar, or cloudy, the airfoil would track + or - 5 degrees into the wind to increase airspeed over the airfoil to generate power. I hope to be in the process of printing parts, for the O-Wind and generator parts in the next week or so to see if it's viable.

[@jamesrobertfellabaum1665]

Ok...had the idea to make a row of these to direct air down on my flat roof to cool and also blow / evaporate standing water. Braking? Could a friction clutch do this function? Also the new propellers shaped like tortellini say they are quieter and more efficient...finally seeing a new squirrel cage where the vanes pivot so they move in line with the rotation when not producing thrust...aiding air flow I guess. So, have I given you some ideas?

[@mahirbalayev5835]

Hi Mr Robert, I wonder is there any electricity accumulator type which have to be charged with heat. For example due to heat charged particles under (or without influence of) permanent magnetic field have to drift oppositely and charge opposite poles (plates) of accumulator, then it can be used by connecting directly to its plates. Does such device exist? Or how would be efficiency of such device?

[@robspeedwell]

I'm designing one of these to make use of a 10kw BLDC (goldenmotor brand) and its controller from my boat. The diameter of the turbine about a metre. Question: would an old torque converter from a car, perhaps in conjunction with a flywheel, help with the gust overspeed and low speed startup?

[@cameronneiheisel6128]

Curious if this could be improved by adopting the low power tesla turbine you made a while back instead of the circle of blades… interested to hear your feedback.

[@jaredharvey1511]

How can we DIY a ridge turbine? I can't find much but I've got the ability to make stuff with sheet metal or plastic. It would be handy to know how to design the blades inside. How do I design the blades? How do I understand it won't blow off roof?

[@WayneMacDonald1]

My understanding is Ridgeblade was developed at Queens University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada... and the effort to commercialize was spun off... but getting information about their tech spec is frustrating!! There was a couple of interesting KZbin videos which showed the factory using lazer CNC to make part etc... They claim the design automatically prevents overspeed damage due to the shape of the blades.. ie: the exiting wind prevents the rotor from spinning too fast.

[@earthlingthings]

Really want to see the completed darwyn * squirrel cage * maglev vawt you once had a plan to combine into one. Thx

[@neuroblossom]

love your work robert. what do you reckon is the best way to power an off grid campervan conversion?

[@gee3883]

I wonder what the guy in the first example is doing with the energy generated? my guess is running a pump to pump out all the water as he's trashed the roof. That's one odd installation.

[@danvasii9884]

Instead of a break, wouldn't be better a device reducing the access of wind into it? Like an obturator or a cylinder gradually covering the opening and reducing the access of the wind into the turbine? So even at higher speeds of the wind the power generation would not stop.

[@EGDD-42]

Are there any distributors out there for the ridgeblade if they don't want b2c enquiries?

[@angharadhafod]

I very much hope these things don't get used over roads. Wind is only renewable if it comes from natural sources (e.g. weather patterns). If that wind is generated by diesel-burning lorries, then ultimately it is diesel powered. It doesn't come for free.

[@swedishdad]

It's such an appealing product that the total lack of info on performance makes me suspicious.

[@lawr5764]

If the wind shifts to parallel to the crest of your roof, you'll get no turning. Isn't that why they're less efficient?

[@kahlernygard809]

You ever gonna do. Video on the only certified vawt (the hivawt) as shown on the powernest videos ?

[@davidkoontz9265]

I liked the concept of the Ridgeblade. That is until I converted m/s to MPH. 2 m/s converts to a comfortable 4 mph, which, with my roof sloping at 30 degrees, the Aeolian effect would be effectively 6 mph going thru the system. When I looked to see how that would translate to KW, all their site says for the RB1 is,"2 kW continuous (2.7kW peak) per 5 rotor system". It doesn't say what the effective wind speed is to achieve that output. I looked at a VWT and it said, "3kw at 12 m/s". Well, 12 m/s is nearly 27mph. The average wind speed where I live is about 10 mph (about 4.47 m/s). Once I converted the units to something I can understand (yes, I'm an American), it started to look like not such a good option - unless someone can show me what I'm doing wrong.

[@RupertBruce]

Odd design @3:38 seems to maximize turbulence at the turbine blade which seems like a bad idea. Isn't laminar flow what the cool kids are doing?

[@DM-kl4em]

It's fascinating how often a motor is also a generator, and a fan is also a turbine. One is nothing more than an inverse of the other. In this particular case, a centrifugal fan outputs "wind" equally in all directions perpendicular to its axis. The inverse is a vertical axis wind turbine, which can harvest wind energy from any direction perpendicular to its axis.

[@DavidPaulNewtonScott]

What matters to me is the widest time available of electricity. I would rater have 50 to 100 watts for 24 hours than kilowatts for just a few hours.

[@kennethkeen1234]

I'd like to see the size of something that will deliver 100 watts, night and day. But what would it cost? More than 20 years Citypower?

[@Patrick-jj5nh]

Just too add to the physics that from a production standpoint most of the non electronic parts could easily be 3D printed en masse locally using waste materials (any type of existing plastic) as a source. Or better yet a type of CCS sequestration that makes synthetic hard plastics as a printing material...

[@kennethkeen1234]

Makes a lot of sense.

[@jamilaad5387]

WE LOVE ❤️ YOUR VIDEOS Thank you 🙏🏼

[@sinsinner6797]

...odd number blades modify resonance a bit better...ie ceiling fans etc

[@stevefrancis4949]

Do they over heat in high winds or break. If it's heat then again have a sand battery to take excess power. Heating is still the most power hungry I believe

[@sailaway8244]

More centrifugal / physical issues ,heat won't come into it a thermocouple type device could easily deal with taking it off-load and a sand battery would only add to heat issues by loading the coils if over speeding

[@langyontiffanyfrancis9855]

I am Jonas Regino, what i would like to knowis how to convert a cieling fan motor for it togenerate ac

[@marshaclark1398]

How does it survive hail storm and tornadoes?

[@HK-hy9od]

Can Ridgeblade wind turbine be ordered in US?

[@lagunafishing]

I would be happier with them installed on ridge tiles of buildings if they were covered with wire mesh to keep the birds out.

[@kennethkeen1234]

Actually, being a close friend of a bird, they would not be a problem, birds have eyes. I forgot😮

[@joohop]

Could A Ring Of Americiam Emitters Be Focused Into One Point And Be Harvested Safely ? Bless Up Star ❤

[@silverbladeTE]

What about building such but for ground deployment? :) Say you have a field, especially if it's on a slope, could you get someone to build a series of these turbines, and mount them on a long, angled A frame construction, perhaps of aluminium or galvanized steel for durability? About 1 metre off the ground, the A frame sides helping wind flow and provide housing for motor and ballast load, etc? For actual cost effectiveness, durability and ease of maintenance, it sounds plausible

[@ianrowberry8818]

Unless you can get more energy out of it than the area of solar panels as could be mounted on the same frame, it's not worth spending the money on it. No matter where you are, at ground level there will be more solar energy than wind energy available for capture. Possible exception being the Polar regions in winter.

[@kennethkeen1234]

Why stop there? If it's on the ground make it rotatable naturally following the wind direction. With a safety tape to keep out people who are stupid 😮

[@kennethkeen1234]

Why stop there? If it's on the ground make it rotatable naturally following the wind direction. With a safety tape to keep out people who are stupid 😮

[@silverbladeTE]

@@ianrowberry8818 It's an addition to solar panels :) mast mounts have serious problems of cost, maintenance and stability especially up here

[@ianrowberry8818]

@@kennethkeen1234 I can't tell if you're being serious, sorry!

[@aphilipdent]

Since roofs are vented to prevent condensation on the roofing nails and to reduce heat buildup why not put a metal roof about an inch or two over the existing roof w/a ridge blade at the peak. You'll probably have continuous air flow no matter the conditions

[@samuelmorris8638]

You're probably correct. I've been doing some experiments with solar, specifically heating water with it as efficiently as I can and it really has been eye opening to see the potential. And eye opening to slowly realize the average person has some belief that there is nothing easy or free or yet to be done ECT. I wonder sometimes, why isn't anyone trying that? We could all implement like 3-4 simple things in new home builds or renovations ECT to mostly power, heat or cool them. A saw a video of a guy who modified his dryer to pull hot air, like the intake of a vehicle, from his attic in the summer. Decreasing his energy usage bc his dryer was ran on the no heat setting. Also cooled the house and dropped the typical months bill down by nearly half or a third or something significant. It seems so obvious once someone says it.

[@samuelmorris8638]

I think your idea might work well, possibly better in some conditions, if you were to paint a metal roof a dark color. If not flat black, maybe a deep blue or maroon. If the sun is out, that'll be hotter then the surrounding air. I personally would cover it with a cheaper clear acrylic, polycarbonate maybe, even glass if you can do it right and source it cheap. The clear material will allow light through to maximize the heat absorbed into the dark color metal roof. Which creates a draft as the air above the clear plastic is colder. Could use shingles also but my initial thought is that a metal roof would allow for higher wind speeds. Bc metals conduct heat rather well vs shingles as far as I know. The shingles may keep a turbine spinning after the sun sets though. The clear on top is gonna help either way I think. Could be wrong. You should play around with it. Let us know if you figure out something cool

[@CraigLandsberg-lk1ep]

Once you mount the turbine horizontal it is 'not' omnidirectional anymore 😢

[@teresabukowska8326]

Dziękuję za film. Dlaczego nie ma tłumaczenia na język polski (napisy w języku polskim)?

[@windworldwide8840]

common mistake : pc of the savonius wt is 30 % ! (is over the american windmill) ... you can check and try !

[@Patrick-jj5nh]

I calculated roughly that such a cross flow turbine along roof of a house (approx 8m) could generate between 2-3 kWhs max on an average day over the year in 2-20 m/s - would you agree?

[@EGDD-42]

So it would cover around 50% of a family's use throughout the year. With Solar & a battery out would make a home virtually off grid?

[@kennethkeen1234]

You mean an 8 m long turbine? Or eight turbines on the roof? And diameter of turbine is your dominant power factor.

[@jamest.5001]

1:45 water wheels in the sky!

[@adarshbhardwaj8866]

What fan blower are you using for this ?

[@neocommonwealth3039]

Regarding high wind speeds, the design of the RidgeBlade's rotor intentionally creates turbulence at high speeds, acting as a self limiter.

[@meowzic]

Build one!

[@portugal1969]

❤

[@perkins1439]

Put a cone in the middle

[@chrisroberts7573]

I've never understood why a drum turbine like this isn't used under motorway bridges and sign gantries to generate electricity using the wind generated from lorries and cars. Whilst talking of cars etc why are turbines not used on the roof of lorries and vans etc? We use turbines to pull air from vans but why not generate electricity from them to top up the battery and the alternator wouldn't have to work as hard there for increasing engine economy

[@richardjohnson8009]

if only you could make really big versions and move them somehow

[@glennwebster1675]

👍

[@yvanpimentel9950]

they can be stack up..

[@strawman9410]

Sounds like a lot of roof strengthening work

[@marshaclark1398]

Extreme cost

[@FinGoju]

Putting those in corners of your house would make the whole house a wind capture device. Perhaps tens or even hundred square meters.

[@MarcShare4Profit]

Awesome insects and bird killers. Something you never talk about.

[@kennethkeen1234]

Very good point. But a simple screen should be easy enough.

[@JouniKyy-xn4kd]

No straight lines on nature, angle