Solar power is a renewable energy resource but its intermittent nature makes it difficult to provide stable and reliable power that meets the required electricity demand. The inevitable change of seasons and weather conditions limit the amount of sunlight in various regions. Due to this, most residential and commercial solar power users use substantial backup in the form of fuel and coal powered electric grids, as solar power system cannot generate sufficient energy for the whole year. Combination of wind and solar energy or other alternative energy systems in a strategic location reinforces the autonomy of the system.
Low cost production of wind energy positively reduces the overall cost of solar and wind power system combination. Wind energy is also one of the major sources of alternative energy. It comes second for overall renewable energy generation in the world with hydropower placing as the number one renewable energy resource.
The combination of solar and wind energy is a proven alternative energy tandem as most of the time, there are strong gusts of wind at night when solar panels cannot collect and generate energy from the sun. Instead of using grid-tied electricity, wind energy serves as the backup energy generator as well as another electricity contributor to independent electric systems. There may still be a need for baseload power but it would only be minimal.
Installing of a dual alternative energy system require separate regulators for both PV panels and wind turbine to ensure that both systems run on optimum conditions. A stationary battery that can hold deep discharge cycles is widely used due to availability and affordability. What makes wind and solar energy compatible is their ability to generate direct current electricity. An inverter must be employed to convert DC to AC power. For hybrid wind and solar energy, both systems must be connected to a DC source through separate regulators with no additional controls required.
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