I said I would never patent an energy device because the world needs cheap power and power production needs to be decentralized, IMHO. The only way I see to accomplish this is with an inexpensive, simple/uncomplicated, DIY energy machine. Hence, I freely talk about different methods of energy production with others.
I might have hit on a good wind energy idea. I think it will be inexpensive, made from commonly available parts, be less complicated than a turbine, be truly bladeless, be capable of doing more than just generating electricity, and have implications for generating power from waves in the ocean to boot.
As the title suggests, I'm talking about a lever that is powered by the wind. Lever arm is vertical. Pivot point is near bottom. Top will have a sail on it to catch the wind. Bottom will be weighted with a magnet. Stationary magnets and coils will be placed in front of, and in opposition to, the magnet on the bottom.
When the breeze blows, it should push the longer, top of the lever arm with the sail on it. The bottom, short part of the lever should be driven backwards. (against the direction of the wind). This should drive the magnet at the bottom of the lever toward the stationary magnets and coils, producing electricity.
The wind energy at the sail would battle the magnetic repulsion at the bottom. The magnets would be trying to stand the sail back up. The wind would be trying to bring the opposing magnets together. This power struggle should provide a lot of movement at the bottom as the magnet goes back and forth, that movement generating electricity in the coils.
To help picture this, imagine poking a stick into a marshmallow. Poke the other end of the stick through a piece of notebook paper. The marshmallow represents the magnet, the paper represents the wind-catching sail. Loosly hold the stick between two fingers an inch or two above the marshmallow. (the stick should be vertical, marshmallow hanging at 6 o'clock position, paper sail at the 12 o'clock position.). Blow on the paper. The marshmallow should move toward you as the sail is blown away from you. (The weight of the magnet at the bottom should be heavy enough to keep the sail upright when no wind is present)
If the lever is long enough, a light wind should be able to produce a lot of force at the bottom. It's that force that could be put to useful work, I think. If you don't like the magnet idea for electric generation, then imagine that bottom part smashing the crap out of a stack of pizeoelectric disks.
Beyond electric production, this setup might work to pump water, power a hydrolic drive, mechanically compress air in a tank, work a jack or winch to raise/lift a weight, or turn an axel.
It should be possible to cheaply make it as large or small as needed. It should also be possible to make a bunch of them affordably. I could see these sitting side by side along the peak of a roof, generating electricity from even light breezes. Because it employs leverage and the sail can be as large as necessary, maybe it could even work at ground level.
To adjust the power from the sail, you could lower it closer to the pivot, if the wind completely overpowered the magnetic repulsion & stopped moving. Or, raise it higher on the lever for more power.
At the manufacturing level, they could build the sail to open and close, allowing the lever to move back and forth. If it were me designing that sail, I'd make it like window blinds. Close the blinds and the sail catches the wind and is driven down. Open the blinds and the wind passes through the sail, allowing the magnetic repulsion, or a spring, to stand the sail back up from the bottom. Open, close, open, ect...
I found a few similar ideas on the web, but they were either huge setups for the power company to use or they didn't quite line up with what I've presented here for consideration. Doesn't mean it hasn't been done, just that I didn't find a match when searching for it on Google.
This idea has a ways to go before it could be workable. For instance, there needs to be the right balance of power from the sail and the magnets--or spring. (A spring could also be set up to pull the bottom back, standing the sail back up.). It would have to be properly sized for the anticipated wind speed. (Detachable components would allow for bigger or smaller weights/magnets/springs to be attached)
In any case, that's my idea for an alternative way to harvest wind energy more affordably. No tower, no turbine, no spinning blades.