Purpose

The purpose of my experiment is to determine whether solar energy or wind energy is more effective at different times of the day. In this experiment, I will build two simple machines to measure each different subject; each will use simple household items and will be the same machinery concept in order to provide an accurate measurement of the efficiency of each subject. The first will be a hot air turbine, which will turn using heat from the sun, and the second will be an anemometer that will rotate using wind energy. At different times of day I will place both outside and calculate the rate of rotation. By counting the revolutions, I will be able to find which produces the potential for more power. This is a worthwhile experiment because it will be possible to use this information to find the most efficient alternative energy source. I believe that this is a meaningful experiment because preserving our environment and finding alternative fuels is a major issue today, and I am interested in finding out which fuel is more effective.

Hypothesis

I hypothesize that solar power will produce more energy than wind power. I think this because things like walls and trees often block wind, while the light from the sun normally will always reach the ground. Because both of my machines will be placed on the ground, I think there is a better chance of the sun reaching the heat turbine than the wind reaching the anemometer. Because wind is caused by the irregular heating of the earth, I believe that the solar energy will have to be stronger in order to create a strong wind. So I believe that the sun is really the deciding factor in how much wind energy there is. Although I may be wrong, I believe that solar energy will be stronger.

Research

            Our global energy crisis is not unknown to the people of the world. However, what is unknown is how we are to fix this problem. As Americans, we contribute much to the waste emissions of the world and, in fact, use more energy than we can produce by importing oil and other fossil fuels that we do not produce ourselves. These fuels are non-renewable and very dirty, making them quite dangerous to our environment. We all must work together to find a solution, and as a contribution to this worldwide movement, I have created this project. The purpose is to find an efficient alternative energy source that may someday replace the harmful fossil fuels that we are currently using. An alternative energy source would be renewable and clean, making it much more beneficial to our environment. Wind and solar energy are two of the most plentiful fuels on earth that may be used to replace fossil fuels. However, before we can use them, we must know more about them and how they can impact our earth. 

            Wind and solar energy have been around for quite a long time. In fact, you could say that they were created billions of years ago when our atmosphere was first formed and allowed for the presence of weather. Nevertheless, it was quite a while before these were being used as a conventional source of energy. The first wind machines used to produce work were created around 200 B.C. in Persia, modern-day Iran. (Environmental Science) This first turbine was singularly like a merry-go-round that had large sails mounted to it; when the sails caught the wind, the wheel turned and ground grain. At about this same time, Chinese farmers had also used windmills for pumping water from wells into their many fields. (Environmental Science) It was not until the 1940’s that electricity was being generated by wind power, and it took many advances in technology to get it there.

Solar power, on the other hand, was first introduced in the 1950’s. The first time it was used was as silicon cells to power space satellites in the far reaches of space. (Graham 68) Because of its commercial use, it was not long before solar power became a widespread source of energy; it is estimated that in the 1970’s, there were about 50,000 homes powered by the sun.

Because of oil embargos, interest often rose in the production of electricity through alternative fuels. Modern machines are now much improved, and have enhanced technologies such as stronger generators, magnets, and computers. These machines now have the capability to power an entire grid of homes instead of just one, and are on a rise in popularity due to global warming. The history of these two fuels is very significant in understanding how much our society has improved, from a conservation standpoint, and how much more it really needs to improve.

            Wind and solar energy are relatively unknown phenomenon. In order to understand these substances, it is important to know what they are and where they come from. Wind energy is caused by the irregular heating of the earth. What happens is that the sun heats up the air over different areas of terrain differently; the air over land heats up faster than the air over water, and the temperature and composition of certain landmasses also affects the time in which they reach a certain temperature. When the warm air over land expands and rises, there is a lack of pressure. As a result, the cooler, heavier air over water flows in to replace the loss, and creates winds at many different speeds depending on how fast the air heats. (environmental science)

Solar energy, on the other hand, starts out in the sun as hydrogen atoms. Because of the intense heat and pressure at the core of the sun, these atoms get fused together in a process called nuclear fusion. These fused hydrogen atoms create a helium atom used to power the sun, and the energy created as a byproduct of this process travels to the earth as heat and light. (Graham 47)

These two remarkable sources are known as renewable resources, because no matter how much we use them, they are always being replenished. That is a pleasant thing to note, because it means that the machines that convert these sources into energy run virtually forever.

            The machines that convert these fuels into electricity are a very important part of the process to power our world. The machines are just as appealing as the sources themselves, and it is because of them that we can turn on a light bulb or plug in a CD player. A wind turbine is the name used to describe a machine that uses the energy of wind to turn machine and create mechanical energy. First, wind causes blades to turn because of kinetic energy, then the blades cause an axle and magnets to rotate inside a coil of conducting wire, and lastly the electricity is generated and powered to our homes. There are two types of wind turbines that generate this electricity: vertical axis windmills

and horizontal axis windmills. Horizontal axis windmills are the most common type found, although no difference has been found in the efficiency of these two types. (Queensland) These machines are often used in windy, flat areas such as the Midwest, and are commonly found grouped together in plants called wind farms.

Solar energy is also produced in different ways. It can be produced by photovoltaic cells or solar power plants. A photovoltaic cell converts sunlight directly into electricity, while power plants use solar thermal cells to power a generator that serves more than one home. 

The inner workings of a photovoltaic contain two materials called semi-conductors, and when the sunlight strikes one conductor it causes electrons to move from one conductor to another creating an accumulation of electrons that can flow along a wire into our homes. (Graber 12)

Solar power plants use the heat from the sun to heat a liquid into steam, which is forced under high pressure into a turbine. The turbine turns a magnet inside a coil of wire, and this rotation creates an electrical field that moves electrons along the wire to our homes. (Graber 13) There are three different types of solar power plants: parabolic troughs, solar dishes, and power towers. (Energy Administration)                                                           

A parabolic trough uses reflectors to focus an intense beam of light onto a receiver inside the trough that heats a liquid as it circulates through the system. The heated liquid circulates to a series of heat exchangers at a central location, and is used to power a generator. A solar dish is a single dish that uses a reflector to point sunlight at a generator where the heat expands the liquid inside it, which creates extreme pressure to power the generator. A power tower uses rotating mirrors to focus sunlight onto a mounted receiver where it heats a liquid to produce steam and powers a generator. (Energy Administration) These machines all work in splendid ways to power our homes, businesses, our societies, and contribute to the growing technology for the nation.

            Quite a lot of the energy in the United States is produced by these alternative fuels, although it is not quite enough to constitute even 1% of the U.S. energy needs. Wind machines in the United States generate a total of about 17.8 billion kilowatt hours per year of electricity, enough to serve more than 1.6 million households. This is enough electricity to power a city the size of Chicago, but it is only a small fraction of the nation's total electricity production. (Energy Information Administration) Even as the fastest-growing alternative fuel source in the world, it constitutes only about 0.25-0.5% of the total power generated in the world. (United States Department of Energy)

Solar power, however, is not growing quite as fast as wind energy, nor being produced in quantities quite as large. This may be because the sun only shines for part of the day, while wind blows even at night, therefore creating a greater potential for power. Solar energy constitutes only 0.07% of the U.S. energy needs. (United States Department of Energy) Even such a little amount does contribute the cutbacks on harmful waste emissions, though you may see the potential for more use in the future.

            This information may be used for many things in our world. We can use these facts to make an impact on the environment. This information can be used to become more energy efficient because we will know one of the most reliable sources of alternative fuel compared to another. We can use this information to create more of the efficient type of machine, and use it to help power our nation by improving it even more than it has been. We can discover what source of alternative fuel is most efficient, and then build more power plants to produce this fuel in place of other more costly and more dangerous fuels. Because neither solar energy nor wind energy produce pollutants, (Graham 68) both of these clean fuels can help to power our world without creating setbacks for our environment, or creating setbacks for the growth of society.

We can also use this information every single day. Whenever we consider what energy-saving choices we are making, and how we can use the natural elements of the environment to perform everyday tasks we are helping to make healthy choices for our world. For example, we might decide to use solar heating by opening a window, wind energy by hanging clothes out to dry, flying a kite instead of playing video games, and warming up outside instead of with a heater. We can use this information everyday with all of the little choices that we make, and in this way contribute in a small part to the resolution of the worldwide energy crisis.

This information can make an impact on our world. The best kind of impact we can make is no impact at all. We would no longer affect the state of the air with harmful gas emissions, nor impact the environment with waste. This information can be used to leave not a trace of foulness on the world by our existence, but leave it as clean as the day we came. Contribute to saving the world: be energy efficient.