Wind Farms
Wind Farm is southern California credit to: Wikimedia Commons
Wind turbines work on a simple principle: instead of using electricity to make wind—like a fan—wind turbines use wind to make electricity. Wind turns the propeller-like blades of a turbine around a rotor, which spins a generator, which creates electricity.
Energy.gov
Wind Farms are a collection of 2 or more wind turbines. As the quote above states, they use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades which as the blades go in circles more and more energy is produced. For these wind turbines to work they are usually placed in ages that are known for high wind. Such as in the countryside where there are less buildings blocking the wind. There are both land and sea turbines. I can guarantee that if you have been to many beaches, you would have at least once seen some wind turbines in the far distance. this is due to there being a lot of wind at the sea front.
Solar Farms
Solar Farms are a collection of solar panels that collects sunlight and converts it into energy that gets sent to the power grid to be distributed.
If you would like to know more about Solar farms, then please read my article ‘what are solar farms?’
Solar Vs Wind
As this video shows there are many positives and negatives to both wind and solar energy. They share the same positives and the same negatives. The only difference they found is that wind turbines are not the nicest to look at and are noisy. However, I would have to say solar panels can be seen as unpretty too, meaning once again they are similar in comparison.
Although we do have a range of solar farms and windfarms all around the world there is still huge amounts of potential that we could still harness.
As this graph shows we are only using such a small proportion of energy we could create from both Solar and Wind energy. According to this there is more potential when it comes to wind as it can produce more energy. However, we are a lot closer to reaching that potential whereas for solar we are only just scraping the surface of the potential it can give us.
When it comes to deciding between wind and solar, I think either of them would be applicable or work. The decision maker I feel would be what is the need for it. For example, if it was to help lower your houses energy bill having a huge wind turbine in your garden may just ruin your view out the window; But having a few solar panels on your roof would help lower the energy and not disrupt you or your neighbours. However, if you have a huge plot of land in the countryside and want to power your local village or business then putting a few wind turbines up would not cause to much disruption.
Therefore, I feel both are equally good and it depend on the purpose of the renewable energy and where it is needing to go that has the final say of which one is better suited for you.
