1. INTRODUCTION:
The main focus of this assignment is to discuss or highlight why South Africa has embraced wind and solar as alternative energy sources. Wind and solar are the evolving renewable sources of energy. Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that is collected from resources which are naturally refilled on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind.
Solar energy is energy derived from the sun in the form of solar emission. And wind power is a form of renewable energy created through the transformation of wind into electricity through the use of wind turbines.
2. BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
South Africa is currently benefiting from clean electricity which is produced by several renewable energy technologies, which includes …show more content…
You only spend during the initial setup costs. There might be a need to add a solar panel later on but won’t need to install a brand-new system. There are definitely no additional costs related with having a solar energy system in your home or business.
3.1.2. DISADVANTAGES OF SOLAR ENERGY IN SA
There aren’t too many disadvantages of solar power but there is one major one and it’s the fact that the sun doesn’t shine around the clock. Also, if you live on a property that has a lot of trees, this may block the sunlight. Once the sun goes down for the night, the solar panels stop collecting energy electricity. This means you’ll have to get it from somewhere else after this point.
• Where Your Solar Panels are Located
Disadvantages of solar energy in SA are where you place your solar panels. This will determine how much electricity you get. If installed in an area that doesn’t get much sunlight, you will still get some energy but you won’t be able to get the full benefits. However, during cloudy days, there will be solar energy but you’ll get significantly more in a brighter environment. Installation of more panels will be required in areas that have least sunlight or installation of a lower number of panels in brightly sunlit …show more content…
DISADVANTAGES OF WIND ENERGY IN SA
The major disadvantage of wind power is down to the winds unreliability factor. In most areas, the winds strength is too low to support a wind turbine or wind farm, and this is where the use of solar power could be great alternatives.
Wind turbines generally produce less electricity than the average fossil fueled power station, requires multiple wind turbines to be built in order to make an impact.
Wind turbine construction can be very expensive and costly to surrounding wildlife during the build process.
The noise pollution from commercial wind turbines is sometimes similar to a small jet engine. This is fine if you live miles away, where you will hardly notice the noise, but what if you live within a few hundred meters of a turbine? This is a major disadvantage.
4. WIND ENERGY: IS IT AN EFFECTIVE SOLUTION FOR SA?
SA is blessed with an excellent wind resource, a fact now proven by some of the lowest wind energy tariffs in the world. The perception that fossil fuels are cheap and renewables are expensive is grossly out of date, using modern turbine technology we are able to harness wind energy extremely efficiently and economically. South African wind farms produce energy at lower rates than any other form of new build generation. It is likely that the price of wind energy will continue to decline, driven primarily by technical advancements and mass production, whilst at the same time the price for fossil-fueled energy will
The main focus of this assignment is to discuss or highlight why South Africa has embraced wind and solar as alternative energy sources. Wind and solar are the evolving renewable sources of energy. Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that is collected from resources which are naturally refilled on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind.
Solar energy is energy derived from the sun in the form of solar emission. And wind power is a form of renewable energy created through the transformation of wind into electricity through the use of wind turbines.
2. BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
South Africa is currently benefiting from clean electricity which is produced by several renewable energy technologies, which includes …show more content…
You only spend during the initial setup costs. There might be a need to add a solar panel later on but won’t need to install a brand-new system. There are definitely no additional costs related with having a solar energy system in your home or business.
3.1.2. DISADVANTAGES OF SOLAR ENERGY IN SA
There aren’t too many disadvantages of solar power but there is one major one and it’s the fact that the sun doesn’t shine around the clock. Also, if you live on a property that has a lot of trees, this may block the sunlight. Once the sun goes down for the night, the solar panels stop collecting energy electricity. This means you’ll have to get it from somewhere else after this point.
• Where Your Solar Panels are Located
Disadvantages of solar energy in SA are where you place your solar panels. This will determine how much electricity you get. If installed in an area that doesn’t get much sunlight, you will still get some energy but you won’t be able to get the full benefits. However, during cloudy days, there will be solar energy but you’ll get significantly more in a brighter environment. Installation of more panels will be required in areas that have least sunlight or installation of a lower number of panels in brightly sunlit …show more content…
DISADVANTAGES OF WIND ENERGY IN SA
The major disadvantage of wind power is down to the winds unreliability factor. In most areas, the winds strength is too low to support a wind turbine or wind farm, and this is where the use of solar power could be great alternatives.
Wind turbines generally produce less electricity than the average fossil fueled power station, requires multiple wind turbines to be built in order to make an impact.
Wind turbine construction can be very expensive and costly to surrounding wildlife during the build process.
The noise pollution from commercial wind turbines is sometimes similar to a small jet engine. This is fine if you live miles away, where you will hardly notice the noise, but what if you live within a few hundred meters of a turbine? This is a major disadvantage.
4. WIND ENERGY: IS IT AN EFFECTIVE SOLUTION FOR SA?
SA is blessed with an excellent wind resource, a fact now proven by some of the lowest wind energy tariffs in the world. The perception that fossil fuels are cheap and renewables are expensive is grossly out of date, using modern turbine technology we are able to harness wind energy extremely efficiently and economically. South African wind farms produce energy at lower rates than any other form of new build generation. It is likely that the price of wind energy will continue to decline, driven primarily by technical advancements and mass production, whilst at the same time the price for fossil-fueled energy will