Bernoulli And The Wind Wall
 

I found this interesting:
Bernoulli And The Wind Wall

I can see situations like a garden wall, where harvesting from the ground effect could be useful. No masts or towers to build. I know the wind through the breezeway to my carport is significant.

As for his statement that 100 ducts for the individual fans would be onerous, I say use sheet metal and a dimple die.

The fans already have a venturi, you might just need to extend the pipe (throat [¿]) but that would take a 2 stage die or some sort of hole put into the sheet to start with and a 20 + ton press. Blade design is horribly inefficient for turning windspeed into torque because they are generally a highly undercambered airfoil so you are using only part of the face of the blade. Proper selection of fan unit is required. Additional issue with cost: 100 fans @ $10 ea is a grand less shipping and taxes assuming you can get them for that price.

Engineering this to actually work is way past my old pay grade by a factor of ten

That's reasonable. I saw the potential expense, and assume $1-2ea used from an electronics recycler. One of my concerns is that PC fans aren't waterproof enough for outdoor use.

As for the blade design, maybe follow www.youtube.com/c/MajorHardware for a 3D printable design.

The main point for me was a design that works in the wind shadows near the ground. Here's another video by Murray-Smith that addresses the same issue:

1478 The American Style Wind Pump - The Best Turbine For Home Generation?

Imho, for you, the best bet would be a re motored 20" box fan arrainged into a wall. Dc brushed small PM motors are cheapish and available salvage as would be car alternaors. I wouldn't expect much wattage output, however unless your area is 20 mph windy.

muffin fans
 

I suspect that modern wind turbines are designed the way they are because, the designers have specialized knowledge about harvesting power from the wind. In all respects.
It's quite possible that, as soon as a load were applied to the muffin-fan-esque 'turbines,' that they'd simply stop turning.

The actual video states the camber of the blades is inadequate.

inadequate
 

I wouldn't limit it to camber.

Agreed that they're not waterproof.

There needs to be a solution that doesn't require centralization and massive towers.

Richard P. Feynman was right about turbulence.

Google says the #1 wind power result is a seven post thread from 2012.

ecomodder.com: Wind power for electric heater.

This would be ontopic there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXASlvOj_S0
I'm currently looking for the episode where he discusses horizontal VAWT. It's helpfull to be able to grasp them on both ends. :)

'vena contracta palooza'
 

The wall of muffin fans suffers from the worst-imaginable entry losses.
A look at how NASA addresses multi-ganged fans at the Ames Research Center would be insightful.