The decision to have a new renewable energy system installed for your home may well be one of the biggest decisions you make. In most cases, the options you would have are fairly straightforward, either go for wind or solar energy for powering up your home.
But since installation of your new system is initially quite expensive, you would need to ask yourself – wind or solar: which is better for your home? There are several factors to consider when it comes to using both types of renewable energy to power your home, and in this article we are going to discuss the top 5 of them.
Practicality
Depending on where you live, the practicality of having a solar panel installation or a wind turbine may vary. If you plan the installation to take place in an open area such as a farm house or somewhere along the mountains, a wind turbine may provide you greater benefit. However, if you plan to install your renewable energy system somewhere along the suburbs, such as a cul-de-sac, you might want to stay away from having a giant fan towering next to your house and go for a simple solar panel installation on the roof instead.
The climate of your area
If you live in an area where there is hardly any rain, but a lot of sunshine then obviously you would rather go for solar panels. However, if you plan to install your renewable energy system at a place where there is loads of rain and cloudy weather, then a solar panel wouldn’t give you any major benefit (if at all!). In contrast, the wind turbine in this scenario would give you greater benefit in terms of energy production.
Efficiency vs consistency
Well, this is a weird one. To be honest, efficiency and consistency really depend on various factors. Both sources give a plethora of benefits, including efficiency and consistency in their own respects, but the two traits are highly variable. For example, a wind turbine isn’t dependent on sunshine and can keep running during the night, but at the same time a solar panel isn’t dependent on wind and can run throughout the day without any hiccups. On paper, a wind turbine is more efficient than a solar panel, but it pretty much goes down the drain if there is no wind blowing to begin with. You could say both have their pros and cons in these departments.
Size of your home
The size of your home is also a big factor in determining whether to choose solar or wind power for powering your home. If you live in a small house with a few rooms and don’t consume a lot of electricity throughout the year, then a solar panel installation may be more suitable for you, since it can be tailored to meet your power requirements. Although wind turbines have also started to come in various sizes, they are still not as flexible as a solar panel installation, and for more efficient usage are usually associated with large houses, offices or mansions.
Budget
Contrary to popular belief, budget is not entirely dissimilar between the two installations. People think that a wind turbine installation may be much more expensive than a solar panel installation for your home. In fact, it is quite the opposite. A 5kW wind turbine will cost you around $20,000 to start with, which will then produce energy throughout the year equal to an estimated $12000 in electricity bills (In ideal conditions).
Since solar panels are relatively inefficient on paper, you will probably require a 7kW installation to produce equivalent amounts of energy, which is equal to $23,000 (excluding taxes). But wait! there’s more, since there are actual moving parts in a wind turbine (It’s a giant fan obviously!) chances of having maintenance checks round the year are much higher than your average solar panel installation, which brings the costs to almost equal what you paid for the solar panel installation.