A lot depends on the seasonal variations in sun and wind in your area. Here in southern Ontario, Canada, the good winds are in the period October-May peaking in January. July and August are poor. Correspondingly we have little sunshine in winter. So wind and solar go well together.
It seems that solar photovoltaic systems are very expensive but need little maintenance and are durable. Wind turbines need regular maintenance (rotating machinery, subject to fatigue loads, and they vibrate). Also, everything depends on durability and reliability. There are some makes of good machines, and some not so good, as well as scam artists who seem to be attracted to the wind energy field. Wind turbines that don't last and are often out of service can be even more expensive than PV. I wouldn't worry too much about climate change producing more clouds. Noise is a factor, there are some poorly designed and noisy wind turbines around. Site location and the local windspeed are very important for wind turbines. Buildings and trees can seriously affect windspeed and turbeulence with resulting metal fatigue and vibration. Good locations for solar collectors are somewhat easier to come by. On the other hand wind is more amenable to DIY than solar *electricity* - for those who know what they are doing. Solar thermal energy for water and space heating is should be fully exploited before bothering about renewable electricity. Conservation and efficiency are the keys to economical use of renewable energy. Doug Woodard St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada On Tue, 30 Aug 2005, Tom Irwin wrote: > Hi All, > > If climate change occurs from global warming do solar panels make more sense > to buy or will wind be better. My thoughts go toward wind. If the temperature > expected occur, many areas will have more cloudy days from all of the extra > moisture evaporated into the atmosphere from the rising ocean tamperatures. > What do you all think? Wind can be fairly constant in some areas and should > only increase from climate change. > > Tom Irwin [snip] _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
