solar energy vs. wind energy?!?
by NNECAPA
Question by Emoney12: solar energy vs. wind energy?!?
Hey guys. I would like to begin heading up a commitee in my school that focus’ on making our school greener. I would like to present some facts to them and see if it would be a possibility to have wind or solar energy at our school. I live in northern michigan so it gets very cold, if that makes a difference.
Could you please tell me all you know of solar panals and wind turbines? Another big factor is the cost – we have about 90 kids per grade k-12. thanks
Best answer:
Answer by Daniel
Hey,
I live in the UK. It’s probably just as cold here as it gets there, if its any where like the cold here. There’s very little sun. Meaning that- solar power is probably going to be a waste of time.
Wind power?
Well yes it’s a good source of energy, but only at a mass scale. The average power retrieved from wind turbines is about 15% of what we get now. It seems useless, but with enough turbines, i think that wind power could be a good source.
Best place for turbines? put the on the roof, high raised from the roof. Your also going to need more than one. To supple energy for the modern school/classrooms your going to need a hefty amount.
Which is going to consider a high price. Something to keep in mind.
My best words are, if you want cost prices, search the web.
Good luck in suceeding though- this is what UK schools should be doing soon, to much money is wasted on ‘improving bloody cafe menus’ to ‘healthier’ salads, with tonnes of mayonaise on them.
Utter pointless.
Keep me informed . Thankyou.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
| Print article | This entry was posted by mosotech on August 30, 2010 at 6:08 am, and is filed under Wind Energy. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
![Modern Warfare 2: The Ken Burton Show Part 50: Thermonuclear War (MW2 Gameplay/Commentary) [HD]](http://moso-technology.com/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-popular-posts/favicon.ico){kind=small}
about 1 year ago
You might want to use both. If there is no sun, there would be wind energy. If there is no wind, use the sun. Actually,if you were in a place that is mostly cloudy, solar energy might not be the greatest idea.
about 1 year ago
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/small_wind.asp
http://www.awea.org/smallwind/
http://www.michigan.gov/dleg/0,1607,7-154-25676_25774—,00.html
about 1 year ago
The current solar panel technology is actually more efficient in cold weather. We installed ours when it was -10 degrees (F) and they generated 120% of their rated capacity. So your cold weather is not a problem. However, you may wish to consider whether the number of sunny days warrants a solar generating system, which tends to be pricey.
As for wind, it’s also spendy. You don’t want to mount it on the roof, because the vibrations will transfer into the building. So you need a separate tower for the turbine. We set up a 350 watt turbine on a 45-foot tower for about $ 1,500. But it generates 24 volt DC electricitry, so it requires an inverter in order to provide 120 volt AC power used in most buildings. Add another $ 4,000 if you want it to reduce your school’s dependence on fossil fuels. Otherwise, it’s little more than a demonstration project.
Solar also is typically set up to generate 24 volt DC power, so it too needs an inverter. Our 1KW solar system, with inverter and battery backup, cost about $ 16K. About $ 4K was for the batteries, which you wouldn;t need. And we got a $ 4K tax credit from the fed and state. Still, you’re in the $ 8,000 range if you include the inverter.
Alternatively you can try to see whether some of the school’s needs could be met with DC power, either 12 or 24 volts. A more practical, if less visible, approach might be to talk to your utility and see if you can contract to buy wind power (ours sells wind power for about 3 cents per KWH more than coal power).
about 1 year ago
Unlike Moist UK MI is very sunny in the morning in winter. Best bet would be concentrated solar heating of a very light(He) closed loop gas turbine. Don’t be Efficiency Expert with Solar it’s always free.
about 1 year ago
It’s not important if it’s cold. A good solar energy installation needs only latitude and sunny days in winter in addition to thermal insulation.
In this instance I would say thermal solar panels for heating and photovoltaic panels + batteries pack for electric energy.
However if winter is windy then a little wind tower is sufficient for all the required energy…