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Efficiency of Wind and Solar Energy: Which is Better?

Discussion

Text Box: Why did the experiment turn out the way it did? What happened that could be changed? How could it be made better? Learn why some things happened, what might have caused some things to go wrong, and what could be changed to make this experiment more lifelike. Don’t forget to form your own data and analysis, and use this information to make your experiment more real and more usable.

Discussion

Analysis

Time Machine Type Rate of Rotation Weather Fastest

6:45am	Anemometer	1 time per minute	45^o, slight breeze, grey skies
	Air Turbine	5 times per minute		X
4:00pm	Anemometer	12 times per minute	70^o, very windy, bright sun
	Air Turbine	20 times per minute		X
7:30pm	Anemometer	9 times per minute	60^o, strong breeze, dark sky	X
	Air Turbine	7 times per minute

6:45	Anemometer	6 times per minute	49^o, slight breeze, blue sky	X
	Air Turbine	3 times per minute
4:00	Anemometer	6 times per minute	65^o, swift breeze, bright sun
	Air Turbine	7 times per minute		X
7:30	Anemometer	5 times per minute	65^o, slight breeze, dark sky	X
	Air Turbine	4 times per minute

6:45	Anemometer	2 times per minute	47^o, still wind, grey sky	X
	Air Turbine	1 time per minute
4:00	Anemometer	7 times per minute	70^o, slight breeze, warm sun
	Air Turbine	8 times per minute		X
7:30	Anemometer	1 time per minute	68^o, still wind, dark
	Air Turbine	2 times per minute		X

6:45	Anemometer	3 times per minute	65^o, windy, grey sky
	Air Turbine	5 times per minute		X
4:00	Anemometer	3 times per minute	71^o, hot, breezy
	Air Turbine	12 times per minute		X
7:30	Anemometer	0 times per minute	68^o, dark sky, still wind	-
	Air Turbine	0 times per minute		-

6:45	Anemometer	1 time per minute	51^o, calm wind, blue sky
	Air Turbine	2 times per minute		X
4:00	Anemometer	5 times per minute	75^o, breezy, blue sky
	Air Turbine	9 times per minute		X
7:30	Anemometer	4 times per minute	70^o, breezy, dark
	Air Turbine	7 times per minute		X

6:45	Anemometer	2 times per minute	52^o, calm wind, blue sky	X
	Air Turbine	1 time per minute
4:00	Anemometer	1time per minute	78^o, calm, blue sky
	Air Turbine	4 times per minute		X
7:30	Anemometer	1 time per minute	65^o, still, dark	-
	Air Turbine	1time per minute		-

6:45	Anemometer	2 times per minute	55^o, calm, grey sky
	Air Turbine	3 times per minute		X
4:00	Anemometer	4 times per minute	80^o, gusty, blue sky
	Air Turbine	19 times per minute		X
7:30	Anemometer
	Air Turbine

Analysis

In analyzing my data, I have observed that the air turbine was more efficient than the anemometer. I believe this was so because the air turbine had the potential, not only to turn with solar energy, but the turbine had the potential to rotate using wind and well. This machine seemed so much more efficient because it was much lighter and less bulky than the anemometer, and mostly turned depending on wind speed. I observed that the heat from the sun was not strong enough to turn the machine, that it needed reflectors of a kind to magnify the power onto the machine. The wind was a larger deciding factor in both machines because the turbine could not turn if there was a lot of resistance (due to the fact that it had a very low mass) and the anemometer could not turn if the wind speed was not fast enough to move the greater weight of its beams. If I were to do this experiment over again, I might place mirrors, foil, or some reflective material beneath the turbine in order to make it more dependant on the sun, and I would make the anemometer not quite as heavy in order to receive the greatest potential from even the slightest breeze. The hot air turbine was much more efficient, and perhaps one day a model such as that will be used to power our world with clean energy!