Solar Power vs. Wind Power

This essay compares and contrasts solar power and wind power as sources of renewable energy. It discusses their efficiency, practicality, advantages, and disadvantages. The essay is for an English Composition I assignment.

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SOLAR POWER VS. WIND POWER
Essay
MAY 26, 2019

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First Name Last Name
English Composition I
Compare and Contrast Essay
26 May 2017
Solar Power vs. Wind Power
Solar and wind are the most common power extraction sources of the renewable energy
resources as they provide power to the highly populated areas and most of the rural areas of the
world, create jobs in installation and many more. Solar Power is the energy extracted from the
sunlight. When the sunlight hits the photovoltaic cells (PV cells) inside the solar panels, then
these cells convert the sunlight into electricity whereas wind energy is the energy generated by
the conversion of kinetic energy of wind into electricity (Khare, Nema, Bareda 23-33). It has
been researched that wind power has emerged as more efficient, but solar is more practical
power source as wind turbines installed required less space, whereas solar panels can be installed
in both rural and urban populations (Cherp, Aleh 612-628).
Starting with the terminology, solar power is the renewable source of energy in which
energy is extracted from the sunlight that is reaching to the earth’s surface. A solar panel
installed on the roofs consists of photovoltaic cells (PV cells) capture the sun’s radiation and
convert it into electricity whereas wind power is extracted using the wind turbines. When the sun
heats the earth’s uneven surface, hot air rises and cool air settles down. Due to this, wind which
is a kinetic form of energy is generated and captured by wind turbines. When wind hit the
turbines’ blades, the generator of the turbine converts this kinetic energy into the mechanical
energy of the blades which further converted into electricity (Ren, Suganthan, Srikanth et. al. 82-
91).
The second category is where does one work best? Solar power works best where there is
a rich supply of sunlight but they fail to work in night and cloudy regions. Panels must be
installed on roofs of the buildings in proper orientation and in proper angle in order to collect
maximum sunlight. Wind power works best in the windy regions or in plain regions where tall
buildings do not become obstacles but the advantage is that wind power can be harnessed in day

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as well as in night. Wind turbines are mostly eyesore and built offshores and far from the cities
which are in need of power (Cherp, Aleh 612-628).
The third category defines the advantages and disadvantages. Solar power may provide
more predictable energy than wind but produce significantly less electricity than wind. It has
been seen that both can generate power on a huge scale and have low operational costs. Solar
panels require little maintenance and space whereas turbines require a large area of space and
hurt wildlife and are not made for highly populated areas. Panels are noiseless but turbines
aren’t. Both panels and turbines are made up of rare and expensive materials on earth. It has been
observed that wind turbines are less polluting than solar panels but both still emit pollutants
(Clack, et. al., 6722-6727).
In conclusion, both solar power and wind power are more efficient than other renewable
resources but wind power can be effectively generated in those areas where turbines emit less
pollutants while in installation, solar is more efficient.

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References
Khare, Vikas, Savita Nema, and Prashant Baredar. "Solar–wind hybrid renewable energy system:
A review." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 58 (2016): 23-33.
Ren, Ye, P. N. Suganthan, and N. Srikanth. "Ensemble methods for wind and solar power
forecasting—A state-of-the-art review." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 50 (2015):
82-91.
Anvari, Mehrnaz, et al. "Short term fluctuations of wind and solar power systems." New Journal
of Physics 18.6 (2016): 063027.
Clack, Christopher TM, et al. "Evaluation of a proposal for reliable low-cost grid power with
100% wind, water, and solar." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114.26 (2017):
6722-6727.
Cherp, Aleh, et al. "Comparing electricity transitions: A historical analysis of nuclear, wind and
solar power in Germany and Japan." Energy Policy 101 (2017): 612-628.