Renewable energy

[jwong]

Regardless of where you put a wind turbine and where you put a solar panel? which one would produce more energy?

[DV8 2XL]

Your going to have to do better than that if you want an answer. As it stands your question is not clear. Are you asking which is the more efficient or which is the more effective?

[ecoli]

or which, ultimately, has a higher energy output?

[YT2095]

what criteria are you judging this by?

 

weight? area occupied? up/down-time? expense per unit?

-------------------------------------------------------

Killowatts generated per annum.

 

(btw, that`s a huge Fraction as an OVER idea)

 

I could continue ad infinitum, but you get the idea

[Sisyphus]

As has been pointed out, you need to be more specific. But generally speaking, wind turbines are the better technology in most cases, capable of producing more power per cost. This is true for several reasons, most obviously that in most places there is enough wind to generate power almost all the time, but the sun only shines in the daytime, and is greatly reduced when it's cloudy.

[YT2095]

as much energy/effort should be put into research of efficient storage media at the same time, the technology exists already, it`s all a matter of employiing it effectively and at a reasonable cost.

[engware]

Hi there:

 

I would just like to add that eventually both wind and solar should be coupled together and have another source for energy storage attached to them. In a long run, the energy surplus should be used to generate hydrogen as an energy carrier and/or fuel.

 

In an ideal scenario, through laptops having wireless connection to the Internet and being power by hydrogen fed fuel cell applications could prove a viable commercial application -- revenue could be generated in such applications and such funds could be used to help other promising technolgies become comercial in the near future ...

 

This is an ideal scenario but it does somehow make sense when bringing promising technologies into the power generation arena ...

 

Thanks,

[jwong]

Just asking generally which one has a greater enrgy output and how many kilowatts it can produce per annum? btw just one solar panel vs one wind turbine.

 

Sorry...

[YT2095]

the problem there is that there`s no Standard size for either, a Huge solar pannel would give more power than a small wind turbine or the other way around.

 

it`s still impossible to determine without specifications of each.

seriously, we`re Not trying to be awkward or difficult in anyway, it`s just without all the data, no one can possible answer this for you

[ecoli]

also coupled with the fact that energy output would vary depending on environmental conditions.

[silkworm]

It's all about the battery. We need to develop truly awesome batteries.

[jwong]

i see where your coming from...thanks for your answers though

[joema]

Just asking generally which one has a greater enrgy output and how many kilowatts it can produce per annum? btw just one solar panel vs one wind turbine....

As already stated, there's no standard size. However here's a paper showing various sizes/costs/outputs of industrial wind turbines (PDF):

 

http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/pdfs/workshops/2004_wind_diesel/company/lorax.pdf

 

The smallest is 30kw, so that's much bigger than a single residence would use. Wind turbines have an average capacity factor of 23%, so over the course of a year they produce about 23% of rated power. Therefore a 30kw turbine would produce 30 kw * 8760 hr/yr * 23% = 60.4E6 watt hrs/yr.

 

A residential house uses on average about 10,000 kilowatt hr/yr, so a 30kw turbine could on average power six homes, and that assumes 100% efficient storage (batteries, etc).

 

Size of a solar photovoltaic array of similar output is calculated:

 

Overall solar cell efficiency: 10% (crystaline cells can't be used in large industrial quantities due to cost. Amorphous cells would generally be used. Also must use real-world efficiency, not laboratory efficiency). Also solar cell output degrades several % per year, so after 20 yrs output is about 1/2. Thus 10% is quite optimistic. This also assumes 100% efficient battery storage and 100% efficient DC/AC inverters.

 

Average solar insolation in US southwest: 5000 watt-hrs/m^2/day, or 1.8E6 watt-hrs/m^2/year Annual solar cell power: 186,000 watt hrs/m^2/year

 

http://www.wattsun.com/resources/insolation_maps/flat_plate.html

 

Solar array size to produce 60.4E6 watt hrs/yr: 60.4E6 / 186000 watt hr/m^2/yr = 324 square meters, or a square array 18 meters per side.

 

That assumes you live in the southwest US. Insolation for much of the US averages about 1/2 of that, so in those areas array size would be about double, or 648 square meters, or a square array 25 meters per side.

 

So a 30kw wind turbine in a favorable area could power about 6 average homes.

 

An equivalent solar array would be 324 square meters (southwest US), or a 648 square meters (much of non-southwest US).

[Klaynos]

It is also worthwhile taking into account the amount of energy expended in creating the solar panel or turbine....

[JHAQ]

I have never understood wind towers -- apart from HOW they develop power ( as a prop driven generator ). Do they generate AC or DC & how is their power output meshed with standard power distribution which is constant voltage at a constant frequency .

[joema]

...Do they generate AC or DC & how is their power output meshed with standard power distribution which is constant voltage at a constant frequency .

They typically generate AC at the exact frequency and voltage needed for the utility grid. This requires either (a) exactly controlling the turbine speed, or (b) allowing variable turbine speeds but having a AC/DC/AC converter to create AC output of the proper frequency.

 

More info:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_turbines