a lift and drag - based vertical axis wind turbine in which the vertical axis and foils mounted thereon are magnetically levitated above the turbine &# 39 ; s base , thereby reducing friction within the system . the foils or vanes are three - dimensionally shaped about the vertical axis so as to resemble the billowed sail of a sailing ship and capture wind through 360 degrees of rotation under any wind condition . the system has an axial flux alternator using variable resistance coils which can be individually and selectively turned on or off depending on wind conditions and electrical draw requirements . the coils can also be used to produce mechanical drag on the system as desired to brake the turbine in high wind conditions or for maintenance . the system may be programmed to assess whether electricity generated by the system can be or should be transmitted to a public grid or stored locally on a chargeable battery system .