This is the age of renewable energy technology. Gone are the days, when conventional energy sources were given significance. These sources include coal, oil and natural gas. They are a major cause of air pollution. Moreover, they will end up one day and hence cannot be relied upon. Due to these large amount of demerits, the usage of conventional (non renewable) fossils fuels is being discontinued. They are being gradually replaced by renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, hydro and biomass. When it comes to selection between wind and solar energy, many important factors need to be considered. This paper briefly presents merits and demerits of both types of sources along with their challenges.

1. Durreesamin Journal (ISSN: 2204 - 9827)
March Vol 2 Issue 1, Year 2016
A Quantitative Comparison of Wind and Solar Energy
Umair Shahzad
(Riphah College of Engineering & Technology,
Riphah International University,
Faisalabad, Pakistan
umairshahzada@hotmail.com)
Abstract
This is the age of renewable energy technology. Gone are the days, when conventional energy
sources were given significance. These sources include coal, oil and natural gas. They are a
major cause of air pollution. Moreover, they will end up one day and hence cannot be relied
upon. Due to these large amount of demerits, the usage of conventional (non renewable) fossils
fuels is being discontinued. They are being gradually replaced by renewable sources of energy
such as solar, wind, hydro and biomass. When it comes to selection between wind and solar
energy, many important factors need to be considered. This paper briefly presents merits and
demerits of both types of sources along with their challenges.
Keywords: renewable energy, conventional energy, fossil fuels, wind energy, solar energy
1. Introduction
Wind and solar energy are two very vital
sources of alternative energy. Both sources
have its pros and cons. In certain cases, wind
energy out powers solar energy whereas in
others, solar energy has more benefits. Many
important factors like cost, cleanliness,
location and reliability, must be taken into
account while selecting the appropriate
choice of energy source. In this article,
advantages, disadvantages and challenges of
both kinds of energy sources have been
reviewed.
2. Advantages of Wind Turbine
Generator
Wind turbine generator has many
advantages as far as power production is
concerned. The chief advantage of wind
generator is that it can generate electricity
during day or night as long as there is wind.
Wind generators occupy less space on the
land to produce sufficient electricity. Wind
generators can produce more electricity for
the same price. This means they are much
more economical. For instance, if you spend
$1,000 on wind generator you can produce
about 1kW – 2kW, whereas with solar
panels you may only produce around 0.5kW
– 0.75kW with the same $1,000 [1].
3. Advantages of Wind Energy
The major advantage of wind energy is its
clean nature. Wind energy does not pollute
the air like power plants that rely on
combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal oil
or natural gas. Wind turbines do not produce
atmospheric emissions that lead to acid rain,
global warming or harmful greenhouse

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March Vol 2 Issue 1, Year 2016
gases. Another vital factor which makes
wind energy viable is its sustainable nature.
Its potential is very huge- about 20 times
more than what the entire human population
requires. Wind is actually a form of solar
energy; winds are caused due to heating of
the atmosphere by the sunlight, the rotation
of the earth, and irregularities in earth's
surface. As long as the sun shines and the
wind blows, the energy generated can be
harnessed to send power across the network
grid. Moreover, wind power is very cost
effective. It is one of the lowest-priced
renewable energy sources available today,
costing approximately between four and six
cents per kilowatt-hour, depending upon the
wind resource and project financing of the
specific project. In general, the operation
costs are very low. Wind farms can be
constructed on existing farms. This greatly
benefits the economy and business in rural
areas, where most of the best wind sites are
found. Farmers can continue to work the
land because the wind turbines use only
some fraction of the land. Consequently,
wind power plant owners make rent
payments to the farmers for the use of the
land providing landowners with additional
income. Wind energy has created many jobs
for people. From installation of wind
turbines to maintenance of the area where
turbines are located, it has created wide
range of employment opportunities for the
people. Since most of the wind turbines are
based in coastal and hilly areas, people
living there are often seen in maintenance of
wind turbines. In countries, where wind
potential needs to be harnessed, this will
create a bigger pool of jobs and will greatly
benefit the economy and energy market of
the country [2].
4. Disadvantages of Wind Energy
As there are two sides to each question,
similarly wind energy has some
disadvantages also. It requires storage
during the time electricity is at peak
production. This process is very costly.
Moreover, wind energy is an unreliable
source as wind is not very predictable and its
behaviour is not consistent. Setting up of
wind farms requires large open areas. Wind
turbines cause noise pollution which
severely disturbs nearby residents. The
average efficiency of wind turbine is very
low as compared to fossil fuel power plants.
We might need many wind turbines to
produce similar impact. It can pose a threat
to wildlife. Birds get killed or injured when
they fly into turbines. Maintenance cost of
wind turbines is quite high as they have
mechanical parts which undergo wear and
tear. Manufacturing and installation of wind
turbines require heavy upfront investments
for commercial and domestic applications.
Last but not the least; aesthetics is a major
concern for many people [3].
5. Challenges of Wind Power
Wind power faces many challenges.
Conventional energy sources like coal and
natural gas are still prevalent. Wind power
must still compete with these conventional
generation sources on a cost
basis. Depending on how vigorous a wind
site is, the wind farm may or may not be
cost competitive. Even though the cost of
wind power has decreased drastically in the

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March Vol 2 Issue 1, Year 2016
past few years, the technology requires a
higher initial investment than fossil-fueled
generators. Good wind sites are often
located in remote locations, which are far
from cities where the electricity is
needed. Transmission lines must be built to
transfer the electricity from the wind farm to
the city. Wind resource development may
not be the most gainful use of the land. Land
suitable for wind turbine installation
must also contend with alternative uses for
the land, which may be more highly valued
than electricity generation. Moreover,
turbines may cause noise and aesthetic
pollution. Although wind power plants have
relatively little impact on the environment
compared to other conventional power
plants, there is some concern over the noise
produced by the rotor blades. The turbine
blades may harm local wildlife. In some
cases, birds have been killed by flying into
the rotors. Most of these problems have been
resolved or greatly abridged through
technological development and by properly
selecting sites for wind plants [2].
6. Advantages of Solar Energy
Solar energy is an energy resource that is not
only sustainable for energy consumption,
but also is indefinitely renewable (at least
until the sun runs out in billions of years).
Solar power can be used to produce
electricity; it is also used in relatively simple
technology to heat water (solar water
heaters). The use of skylights in home
construction can also significantly reduce
energy expenditure required to light rooms
in interiors of home during the day. Solar
panels also require very little maintenance
and repair. After installation and
optimization, they are very consistent due to
the fact that they actively create electricity
in just a few millimeters and do not require
any type of mechanical parts that can fail.
Moreover, they are a silent producer of
energy, a requirement if dealing with
fastidious neighbours. Solar energy is non-
polluting, hygienic, reliable and renewable
source of electricity. It does not pollute the
air by releasing harmful gases like carbon
dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulphur oxide.
Solar energy does not require any fuel and
therefore shun the problems of
transportation of fuel or the storage of
radioactive squander. Solar cells make no
noise at all and there are no moving parts in
solar cells which make them long lasting.
Solar energy is a source of cost effective
solutions to energy problems where there is
no electricity at all. Solar cells generally do
not require any maintenance and run for
sufficiently long time. More solar panels can
be added from time to time when essential.
Although, solar panels have initial cost but
there are no recurring costs. Initial cost that
is incurred once can be recovered in the long
run. Apart from this, solar panels do not
create any noise and does not discharge
offensive smell. Solar panels are easy to
install and does not require any wires, cords
or power sources. Unlike wind power
stations which require them to be tied with
drilling machines, solar panels does not
require them and can be installed on the
rooftops which means no new space is
needed and each home or business user can
generate their own electricity. Moreover,
they can be installed in distributed manner
which means no installations at massive
scale are necessary. [4]

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March Vol 2 Issue 1, Year 2016
7. Disadvantages of Solar Energy
The chief disadvantage of solar power is that
it obviously cannot be created during the
night. The power generated is also abridged
during times of cloud cover (although
energy is still produced on a cloudy day).
Solar panel energy output is maximized
when the panel is directly facing the sun.
This means that panels in a fixed location,
such as the building above, will see a
decreased energy production when the sun is
not at the best possible angle. Many large
scale solar farms contest this problem by
having the panels on towers that can track
the sun to keep the panel at optimal angles
throughout the day. Even most efficient
solar cells only convert just over 20% of the
sun rays to electricity. With improved
advances in solar cell technology, however,
this number is likely to increase. Besides
their low conversion efficiency, solar panels
can be a considerable initial investment. The
location of solar panels is of major meaning
in the generation of electricity. Areas which
remains mostly cloudy and foggy will
produce electricity but at a condensed rate
and may require more panels to generate
enough electricity for homes. Houses and
buildings which are covered by trees,
landscapes or other buildings may not be
suitable enough to produce solar power.
Most of the photovoltaic panels are made up
of silicon and other lethal metals like
mercury, lead and cadmium. Pollution in the
environment can also mortify the quality and
efficiency of photovoltaic cells. New
pioneering technologies can overcome the
nastiest of these effects. For home users, a
solar energy installation may not require
enormous space but for big companies, a
large area is required for the system to be
resourceful in providing a source of
electricity [4], [5].
8. Challenges of Solar Power
Solar panels employ expensive
semiconductor material to produce
electricity directly from sunlight.
Semiconductor factories need clean
manufacturing environments and are
expensive to build and maintain. The
efficiency of solar cells is only about 22%.
The rest of the sunlight that hits the panel is
wasted as heat. Installing solar panels on a
house is expensive and requires experienced
personnel. These systems use fixed solar
panels since alignment systems are too
expensive for the average homeowner.
Large solar farms have been built in desert
regions and have decreased the installation
cost since a larger economy-of-scale is
created (parts, material & installation people
are at a single location). But these large,
cheap tracks of lands are found far from
cities where the power is needed. Expensive
transmission lines are needed to bring the
power to a distant market. Maintenance
costs are high since every inch of a solar
panel must be kept clean and clear of debris,
dirt and dust. Their efficiency drops
radically even when a small portion is
blocked by a leaf or a thin film of dust [6].
9. Conclusion
The paper presented some positive and
negative points of two important sources of
renewable energy- wind and solar. They

5. Durreesamin Journal (ISSN: 2204 - 9827)
March Vol 2 Issue 1, Year 2016
share some common advantages that they
are cleaner and do not spread air pollution.
Moreover, they can be replenished as they
will never run out. They can be set up at
small scales to fulfil power needs of local
population. However, both sources suffer
from high initial investment costs and some
aesthetics problems. These problems can be
overcome by suitable selection of sites and
large monetary paybacks. In short, the
advantages of wind and solar are much more
than their demerits and hence, these sources
must be utilised for large scale energy
production.
References
[1] “Solar power vs. wind power”, http://gogreeninyourhome.com/how-to-save-
electricity/solar-power-vs-wind-power-pros-and-cons/, Accessed 30th December, 2015.
[2] “Advantages and challenges of wind energy”, http://energy.gov/eere/wind/advantages-
and-challenges-wind-energy, Accessed 30th December, 2015.
[3] “Wind energy: advantages and disadvantages”,
http://www.ianswer4u.com/2012/02/wind-energy-advantages-and.html#axzz3ihsrrc7I,
Accessed 30th December, 2015.
[4] “Alternative Energy”, http://www.tc.umn.edu/~dama0023/solar.html, Accessed 30th
December, 2015.
[5] “Disadvantages of solar energy”, http://www.conserve-energy-
future.com/Disadvantages_SolarEnergy.php, Accessed 30th December, 2015.
[6] “Problems with solar energy”, http://www.solarpoweristhefuture.com/problems-with-
solar-energy.shtml, Accessed 30th December, 2015.

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