Wind and solar are two of the main choices for alternative energy. They are environment friendly and renewable sources of energy. They create little to no pollution during power generation. In addition, they avoid depletion of natural resources. A comparative study shows that each of these energy sources have their own benefits and limitations.
Installation
Solar panels come in a variety of shapes and forms. They can be installed commercially on a large scale and can be also set up on the top of any home roof though it needs to be south facing. Solar panels can be put up without any permission from the appropriate authorities. Wind turbines generally need to be mounted at a high altitude for optimal efficiency. Their installation is a lot more costly and labor-intensive than solar panel installation. Also, law often prohibits towers or structures (generally required for wind turbines) in cities or suburban neighborhoods.
Constancy Factor
Wind energy is dependent on the wind. As a result, if the wind is not blowing, electricity will not be generated. On the other hand, with sufficiently advanced solar cell technology, bright sunlight is not a prerequisite anymore to generate electricity from solar energy. Solar photovoltaic (PV) cells work even on a gloomy day if the temperature is moderate (in the 70-degree range).
Effectiveness
Solar panels produce 100 percent of their output when the sun shines whether it is shining brightly or even if it is moderately cloudy. To produce wind energy, a minimum of a five-mile-per-hour wind is needed to rotate the blades. For optimal electricity production, a 10- to 20-mile-per-hour wind is absolutely necessary. It is estimated that a consumer wind turbine only produces 10 percent of the maximum possible power on the course of an average 24-hour period. The power generated from solar panels also depends on daylight. Hence, it's effectiveness has limitations, too.
Price Tag
The cost involved in generating power from wind turbines is enormous. Wind turbines installed commercially are about 2 MW in size and they cost about $3.5 million for installation. Smaller turbines for residential use cost less. Turbines that produce 10 kilowatts of electricity cost about $40,000.
Solar panels for residential use can cost anywhere from $3,500 to $7,500.
As wind turbines are less efficient than solar panels, the cost per kilowatt-hour generated by the former is much higher than the latter. Thus the payback period (the length of time required to recover the cost of an investment) of a wind turbine is much higher than that of a solar panel.
Other Factors
Wind turbines are quite noisy and hence create noise pollution. Solar panels have no such problems. During windy days, wind turbines are of great use, however, lightning storms cause major damage to these turbines. Solar panels are easy to install, thereby making them convenient to use for domestic purposes.
