Solar and Wind Energy

Wind energy is produced by moving air and the motion in air is caused by the solar energy produced by the sun. The photo voltaic energy heats the air and the heated air rises above and that which is cool moves down, thus, this motion causes what is referred to as wind. It is true to notice that man has used wind energy for centuries in doing various things, for example, grinding grains and pumping water. However, in the modern world, man has learnt to convert wind energy into electric energy. The era of electricity in such a way requires projects particularly developed for that single purpose, however, for those projects to work efficaciously and not affect the surroundings negatively, proper site planning needs to be done to help in determining the best site for developing the project, that is the sites wind profile and the impact it will have on the environment if the project is developed on that specific site. There are rules that have been developed that ensure that the environment is kept safe from the effects of the wind turbines that are usually used for the generation of electricity from the wind. These rules include a 50 meters falling distance from a major road, 100 meters distance from any power line, 500 meters falling distance from the homes, and a 1 kilometre distance from any urban area. It is also important to note that sites for wind energy harnessing should be located away from bird conservation areas, as well as, the breeding grounds to protect the birds from being sliced up by the blades of the wind turbines. Carefully looking at the wind profile of a particular site will help determine the productivity of the project once it is completed and launched to operation on that site.