Three Reasons Why Solar Energy Outshines Wind

All right, renewable energy lovers (you know who you are): why is solar so hot right now? Where has all the wind power love gone? Now, we’re not knocking wind energy–seriously, it’s a great technology and in many applications is more cost effective than solar. We just want to make it clear why solar has got everyone in a tizzy. Here are three major ways in which solar beats out wind:

1) More reliable. On a yearly basis, it’s pretty easy to predict how much sunshine will hit solar panels in any given location. This means you can get a reliable savings estimate over the lifecycle of a solar PV system. Even in excellent locations for wind turbines, wind varies so greatly that it’s more difficult to estimate your energy production, savings, and ROI with precision.

2) Way less likely to give your HOA conniption fits. Are there small wind turbines available for residential use? Yes. Is it an enormous pain in the neck to deal with many local zoning regulations, not to mention the wrath of your neighbors over sight lines? Yes. On a commercial level, this can unfortunately even be true. Just look at Cape Wind, an amazing project concept with the potential to produce enormous amounts of energy in the wind sweet spot of Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts. The project has been under development for years and years now, blocked mostly by grumpy residents’ (some of whose last names may or may not be “Kennedy”) complaints about what the far-off turbines would do the look of the horizon. In computer mockups of the project, you can barely even see the turbines from shore; but the point is, it’s a hard sell. Solar isn’t. It looks all sexy and high-tech, blocks no one’s views of whatever, and ups property values. Win.

3) No moving parts. Solar energy systems last for decades with little maintenance (unless there’s a tracking system involved, but we’re not getting fancy here). Wind turbines, while the equipment keeps on ticking for a long, long while, need expensive and relatively frequent upkeep. It’s common sense–the fewer moving parts, the fewer things to break. The fewer things to break, the fewer things to fix. And while reports of wind turbines’ fatal effect on native avian populations are greatly exaggerated, accidents do happen. Unless a squirrel chews through a live wire on your roof and crispies itself, wildlife, children, and the supermodels at your amazing weekend rooftop parties are perfectly safe with solar.

feilers Said,

March 17th, 2010 @6:39 pm

You are quite accurate with your discussion on solar. But wind does have a place in our drive to displace the use of fossil fuels. If not in our neighborhoods then on open prairies and yes eventually offshore. As you said you would actually hardly even see them and when utility bills and global warming increases people will come around. They all sure beat coal power plants!

Colorado Solar Designers Said,

March 19th, 2010 @6:27 am

Although reasons 2 and 3 are for us, the real reason is what you nailed in #1 – Wind is unpredictable.

XCEL just recently refused to sign a contract with Wyoming wind generators because the capacity of the line is unpredictable. If you are an electric utility company, and cannot count on a power source to be there, then you have to make sure you have that power elsewhere. If you have to have it somewhere else, why have the wind source at all?

For excess use, you say. This is exactly why you can get paid to take the power off the grid in the Texas panhandle at night – too much generation and not enough storage capacity (aka Grid).

Wind – too much, or too little just doesn’t work. Grid-tied photovoltaic solar electric generation, although only good for 25-40% of the day, and highly inefficient, is still very predictable. It is also green! Which is a good thing.