Solar or wind which is better

I received an email the other day for someone that I had given a bid to back in October for a new wind turbine. He wanted to know which would be better solar or wind by cost.

So I took a look at the both of them together.

To produce 400 kwh a month was what I figured for the amount of power each system would have to produce each month.

Solar:
You have to have room for 16 solar panels at 224 watts, 3584 watt total each panel is 65"X40", no battery backup, grid tied.
The cost is $27,435.00, Rule of thumb $8/watt of panels to be installed.

Wind:
You have to have 3' of room for one pole 60' tall and 2.4 kw generator, grid tied.
The cost installed is $19,698.00

That is $7,737.00 difference, so wind is cheaper cost wise.

Now each unit will do better some days than others. But I do not know about you but it seems that there are more windy days than sunny days here in Michigan and I lived here most of my life.

Solar you are limited by 4.2 peak hours, when the sun is the highest in the sky, of sun making power and then you are done.

Wind it can blow all night long and you will still be making power.

FYI: Wikipedia - The upper two thirds of the lower peninsula and the upper peninsula of Michigan get 83 to 100 days of sunlight.

Michigan is the 14th windiest state in the United States.

So in my opinion wind is the better choose for us here in Michigan. The best way is to have both, because they can play off one another.

But who can afford both.

So I believe the chose is clear wind is the best for us here in Michigan. In the next few weeks I will be installing a solar radiation sensor on my weather station to keep track of how much solar radiation there is each day. You will be able to see that information on my weather page .

I will put an update on this blog when I have completed that installation.