Why Solar and WindPower Work Great Together

Both solar and wind power are great alternative energy solutions for most homes on their own, but also work very well together. Many homeowners think they have to choose between these two types of home power solutions when in fact they compliment each other perfectly. Even though either one of these systems can provide the power your home requires, there are several good reasons why you should consider installing a system that combines both.

A home solar power solution is by far the most popular alternative energy choice for most homes today. The reasons for this are many, but it has mostly to do with the maturity of the technology and the long history of successful installations to date. While a home solar solution will certainly handle most home’s needs for power, these systems have a few drawbacks when used alone.

The first major issue is that as efficient and powerful as these home solar power systems have become over the years, they can still only generate power when the sun is shining. This means if they could start generating power the minute the sun crested the horizon and continue to operate at their full potential until sunset, they would still only cover about a third of a 24-hour period.

Now consider that their output is directly proportional to the amount of sunlight striking their solar panels, and more importantly the angle of that sunlight and you soon come to realize that they are really only generating their peak output for about 6 hours each day under the best summer conditions.

Now if you subtract the days that are overcast or raining along with the days that homes in colder climates have their solar panels covered with snow, you soon begin to understand that even though these systems can generate a huge amount of power, they are still inactive for a large portion of the year.

A home wind power system on the other hand can generate power day and night as long as a breeze is blowing. Even though they may generate less power per day than a larger home solar power system, they can do it more consistently and this adds up to quite a bit of additional power.

Also, on the rainy and overcast days when the home solar power system may be inactive, the home wind power system will be in full operation since strong winds usually accompany a storm. These home wind power systems are much less expensive than a home solar power system and can compliment one very well.

In addition to the two technologies working together, even some of the conversion and connection equipment is designed to support both. Most newer inverters are designed to accommodate the DC current that both the wind and solar power systems generate. It will take the DC current from either of these systems and convert it to the proper AC current for use in your home.

By allowing you to use the same inverter for both types of systems you can save money and simplify the installation of your alternative energy system considerably.

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