Hello guys, welcome back to my blog. In this article, I will discuss the difference between solar and wind power plant, and we will also share some previous year data related to solar and wind power plants.
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Difference Between Solar And Wind Power Plant
Wind and solar energy sources both come under the renewable energy sources because they are infinite. The only difference they have is the way they obtain the required energy for the generation of electricity as wind energy is obtained from the flow of air but solar obtains its energy from the heat and light from the sun. Now let us see how they differ from the generation.
Solar Power Plant
Solar Energy power plants use the heat and light from the sun to generate electricity. The photovoltaic cells are used for receiving the light and convert into power using photovoltaic technology means the solar panels obtain photons from the sunlight and they will be transformed into electrons then they will be passed through the semiconductor material and electricity will be generated. Solar thermal energy generation is another form of technology where the sun’s heat is used for electricity generation. The heat will be captured by mirrors placed and the water will be heated using that heat and then the water will flow through the turbine and the power will be generated. These are the main technologies for the generation of electricity using solar energy.
Nowadays solar energy is the top most renewable energy source used for power generation compared to other renewable energy sources. Solar has the main advantage that it can also be generated by the household. Let us see some advantages of solar energy.
01. They can be placed everywhere as rooftops and in regional areas.
02. Compared to other renewable energy sources solar has a capacity to generate a bulk amount of supply and can be supplied for populated areas.
03. Maintenance is very less due to fewer moving parts.
04. Electricity is freely generated once the panels are installed, panels work irrespective of weather conditions, and electricity will be generated as long as panels catch the rays.
05. The material costs are very low due to fewer parts as the total process will be done in pannels so energy generation and transportation is easy.
06. Generation per kWh cost is less due to the bulk amount of generation and some households are generating free electricity by installing panels and they are storing the energy generated using batteries and stored energy will be used when demand is peak.
07. According to 2019 sources solar energy supplies 2% of global electricity.
Wind Power Plant
Wind energy is an endless source of clean energy. The availability of wind is at every end of the world but the wind speed required to generate the electricity will be available at hill stations and the above sea-level areas. As we see wind farms are rapidly developed as they have become common sight near hills in recent years. Power will be generated using the kinetic energy of airflow with the help of turbines.
There are two types of turbine technologies used for wind energy conversion: 1) HAWT (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine) and 2) VAWT (Vertical Axis Wind Turbine), but popularly horizontal axis wind turbine will be used for energy generation. Turbines are placed on towers that are 80m in height and rotor blades are extended up to 40m long. Towers are placed very high to capture the wind speed and a tower can produce 100KW. The wind energy is used to rotate the turbine blades then the kinetic energy will be converted into mechanical energy by using generators electrical energy will be generated. This is how the wind is used for power generation. Let us see some advantages of wind energy.
01. Maintenance is comparatively low.
02. Generation of electricity is easy because of less usage of machinery
03. It will not generate any harmful gases or contaminate water
04. It will be available at any time irrespective of whether and day or night.
05. The cost of generation is high due to few machinery usages
06. According to 2018 sources wind energy contributes 5% of global electricity.
The major differences are solar can produce a bulk amount of electricity compared to wind energy. There will be no impact on the environment because of the cleanest form of generation but there is a small issue given by sources that panels after usage are becoming nondegradable due to silicon and plastic properties. The cost per KWH is low for solar energy usage comparing to wind energy.
The maintenance of wind energy is high due to some moving parts but it is less for a solar generation due to stationary parts. They may have some differences but there are the major renewable sources contributing to global electricity. In the coming days, the renewable plants going to be increased in most of the renewable plants will be solar and wind. The step forward for the cleanest generation will make our earth the greenest planet in the universe.
I hope this article may help you a lot. Thank you for reading.
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