Wind and Solar Power 101
The United States is now home to enough solar capacity to power 18 million homes and enough wind capacity to power another 32 million. And more renewables are coming.
Renewable energy technologies like solar and wind power are transforming how we generate electricity. These clean energy sources offer powerful alternatives to fossil fuels, each with unique environmental characteristics that make them crucial in our fight against climate change. What Produces More Carbon, Solar or Wind Power?
Wind energy is cleaner than solar energy. That said, both Solar and wind energy systems create dramatically fewer carbon emissions compared to traditional fossil fuel power plants. Wind turbines generate approximately 4-34 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), while solar panels produce about 6-50 grams of CO2 per kWh.
Wind power LCOE decreased from $135 per megawatt-hour to $43 [$112/MWh to $36/MWh] between 2009 and 2018. Solar LCOE matched this reduction, dropping from $359 to $43 per megawatt-hour [$298 to $36/MWh]. What Makes Wind Energy More Efficient Than Solar Power? Wind turbines transform 60% to 90% of wind energy into electricity.
But the country is also home to a number of utility-scale concentrated solar systems, which use mirrors to focus the sun's rays, heating up a liquid that is then used to generate electricity, by, for instance, running a steam turbine. As for wind power installations, they can be found both onshore and offshore.
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