Why Wind Power is Better Than Solar Power – We Compare Wind Power and Solar Power

Posted by EcoFriendly

Sep 20

So you want to install some renewable energy for your home and have come to the crossroad as to which is better, residential wind power or residential solar power. Both wind power and solar power have been around for a long time now and both renewable energy source have successfully been used to produce clean electricity for home and commercial users – but which renewable energy source is the best?

In our mind there is no competition! Wind power is the superior renewable energy source for residential users and this comes down to a number of reasons. The reasons why we believe that residential wind power is better than solar power are a mix of personal reasons and scientific reasons along with the ultimate reason: the cost of a vertical wind turbine.

Reasons why a residential vertical wind turbine is better than a solar power system:

Wind power technology has its origins that trace back to Persia as early as 200 B.C. Wind power has been around a lot longer than solar power and as such the technology has had a greater deal of time to be refined to a point that it is more reliable than solar power.

Many locations around the world do not have full sunlight days which is a vital ingredient to the success of a solar panel installation. On top of this the sun is only out for half of the day in most places around the world – in some places the sun does not even shine during the day – this leads to no solar power! On the flip side a wind turbine can produce energy all day every day if there is a supply of wind.

Cost – Yes you knew it had to come up eventually! Solar power technology costs a lot more than wind power – there I said it! Phew. In a study conducted by Ontario, Canada based company, Detronics Limited, one wind turbine and one solar array were set up and tested over the course of one year. Over that time span wind proved to be more cost effective than solar power. The total kWh produced by each system were recorded and then divided into the total cost of purchasing and running each system. During this year long study, wind power proved to cost just over $3.00 less per kWh produced.

These two installations were purchased from reputable renewable energy dealers and as shown above wind power won the contest but what if you could get your wind turbine for under $200?

This is where it gets really interesting! We have been building wind turbines off the plan for the last few years following this wind power plan with the total cost for each wind turbine coming in at under $200 USD. Now let’s take a minute to put that in perspective here. The average American family spends $1900 each year on their energy bills – this is nearly ten times the amount that is would cost to buy some wind turbine plans and build your own wind turbine for under $200. Talk about getting a bang for your buck!

Can you do this with solar power? No you can’t. But you can build your own vertical wind turbine to power your home for under $200 and the whole process couldn’t be easier. Get on over to our review of the best wind turbine plans and see why we think that residential wind power is a far better product than residential solar power.