Renewable Energy Information and Resources

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Question: Solar/wind powered energy?

(Posted by: Emily B on 2010-04-28 09:45:19)

What are the percentages of power/ energy saved by using solar energy and wind energy compared to what we use on average? Thoughts or ideas?

Answers:

Posted by: Little Gigi on 2010-04-28, 10:35:34

If implemented correctly, it can be 1:1 if not 10:1 given the time of day, and the weather. take a look at the Merry Lea center in Goshen, Indiana or Chicago's center for green technologies, they are great sources

Posted by: virtualbucks on 2010-04-28, 18:53:09

It depends on how much energy you can generate from wind or solar power. If you can totally depend on solar/ wind power, it means your saving is as much as your power bill.

Posted by: Breath on the Wind on 2010-04-29, 12:35:24

When reading about the total capacity of solar power available in the SW US or wind power available in the midwest US you see either on could potentially totally satisfy all of our power needs. However such claims need to be put into some economic perspective. -Yes, the power is there but transmission to far places is another issue. -As is the efficiency of such sources of energy. -Such sources of power may not be as constant as is our need. Our electrical system needs greater capacity for energy storage. This is another technology that is concurrently being developed. They are improving but lets not expect so much that we will be disappointed if technology does not advance as rapidly as we would wish. Currently renewable energy is only a small percentage of US power supply: eia.doe.gov/ cneaf/ alternate/ page/ renew_energy_consump/ table1.html and a graph: tonto.eia.doe.gov/ energyexplained/ index.cfm?page= electricity_in_the_united_states Specific instances for home owners or businesses will vary a great deal based upon local conditions, local incentives, amount of available investment, desired or needed return on investment...

Posted by: GABY on 2010-05-01, 18:37:28

Wind and Solar will never totally replace Nuclear / Fossil / other because they both depend on nature's funky unpredictable variations that lower their reliability. Wind power generators require 5-7 MPH sustained wind to produce power. Most areas will have over 50% of the time with less than this. Solar depends on clear days to produce. Even a day with beautiful puffy clouds with blue sky days don't produce well. Solar produces nothing during evening hours. All Solar and Wind Power can do is reduce electric energy produce by fossil and nuclear. We still must keep and maintain all these plants (Or new nuclear plants if possible) in order to maintain the reliable 24/ 7 energy we require. This really drives up the cost of our power because even when we invest in new Solar and Wind, we still have to keep the old ones.