subject: Residential Wind Turbines Vs. Solar Panels [print this page] What should you choose: residential solar panels or wind turbines for the house? Much will depend on exactly where you live as well as the weather conditions you can expect. Below we will compare the pros and cons of each setting off with the advantages of solar panels.
Solar panel pros:
1) While commercial solar energy systems are even now fairly expensive, the prices are coming down. Better still, your can assemble photo voltaic panels fairly quickly and for just over $100 per panel. The actual construction of a solar panel is actually really straightforward. You most likely have all or most of the tools you will need now.
2) Photo voltaic panels are very easily added in the future. If you decide to begin with a smaller array, even one or two panels, it is possible to add to it as your time and money permit. Don't believe as though you have to install the whole solar system to your house all at once. Get started now and eventually you will have a solar powered house. With every single panel you install, you'll be required to buy less electricity from the power company.
Solar panel cons:
1) Photo voltaic panels don't work at night. This is not a real disadvantage if you're still connected to the electrical grid. You are able to purchase electricity at night and sell energy you produce back to the power company in the day. This ebb and flow of power translates into no electric bill to pay each month.
2) Climate may be a limiting factor. Residential photo voltaic energy will function far better in Phoenix than it will in Seattle, but the fact is there's adequate sunshine in almost every single city and state within the Us to make solar power beneficial.
Wind turbine pros:
1) Like solar, when your wind turbine for the home is ready to go, the maintenance is minimal. You can even assemble your own wind turbine for under $150. Commercial wind turbines would cost a great deal more, but when you know how easy they are to construct there's no reason to buy commercially.
2) Wind turbines for homes generate power day and night, whenever the wind blows. Like solar, some locations will likely be much better than others but wind electrical generators are definitely workable in most areas of the country.
Wind turbine cons:
1) A rooftop wind turbine could be a bird hazard. Occasionally birds fly into the blades of rooftop wind turbines and are killed or hurt. The hazard is really no more than the little windmills you see for irrigation on farms. The bird hazard is definitely very much more a difficulty with huge wind farms established in major bird migration routes like those in Southern California.
2) Wind turbine generators make noise. Unlike a residential solar panel which is utterly silent, a house wind generator will make a whoosh whoosh sound as it operates.
Whichever you decide on, photo voltaic power or wind, you will reap the benefits and so will the Earth. You will have lower or no electric bills and there will be less carbon dioxide spewed into the atmosphere. And here's a thought for the future: Nissan now sells an all electric vehicle, the Leaf, and additional car companies will have them in the foreseeable future. Imagine never having to pay for gasoline once you create your own power at home.
