The Renewable Energy Hub Forum

Important News => General => Topic started by: allegrif on December 01, 2015, 09:08:10 PM

Title: In their perfect environments, which is more efficient - wind or solar?
Post by: allegrif on December 01, 2015, 09:08:10 PM

So you're in a really windy place which also happens to have generous sunlight. It's considered perfect for either wind or solar harnessing. You can only pick one. Which one is more efficient, and therefore the better option?

Title: Re: In their perfect environments, which is more efficient - wind or solar?
Post by: JamesH on December 01, 2015, 09:11:10 PM

Wind, because then it would run through the night. Even without a tiny amount of cloud, you've still got the sun down for an average of 12 hours per day. It would be even more varied at higher latitude with short days in winter.

Title: Re: In their perfect environments, which is more efficient - wind or solar?
Post by: Zarostulus on December 02, 2015, 06:42:16 PM

Quote from: JamesH on December 01, 2015, 09:11:10 PM

Wind, because then it would run through the night. Even without a tiny amount of cloud, you've still got the sun down for an average of 12 hours per day. It would be even more varied at higher latitude with short days in winter.

I think solar is better in the log run. Sure, it's expensive to put down and only available half the time, but the maintenance costs once it's running are far smaller - having fewer moving parts is always a good thing.