Question

Discuss some of the challenges wind and solar generation plants can introduce in bulk power operations

Answer 1

CHALLENGES OF SOLAR POWER

First thing that you should know about Solar energy is that solar energy is the least efficient but easily accessible of all the renewable energies. Here are some challenges faced by solar energy:-

1. No generation when then sun sets down.
2. Cleaning the panels regularly. Cleaning panels of large solar farms is wastage of lots of water.
3. Small shadow on the panel can disrupt the generation of whole string.
4. Costly replacement of batteries in off-grid plants.
5. In On-grid systems, when there is a power cut from the grid then you cannot use your own power generation. Your power will also go out.
6. Finding faults and maintenance of big solar farms is hard because of large size.

CHALLENGES OF WIND POWER:

Wind power must still compete with conventional generation sources on a cost basis. Depending on how energetic a wind site is, the wind farm might not be cost competitive. Even though the cost of wind power has decreased dramatically in the past 10 years, the technology requires a higher initial investment than fossil-fueled generators.

Good wind sites are often located in remote locations, far from cities where the electricity is needed. Transmission lines must be built to bring the electricity from the wind farm to the city. However, building just a few already-proposed transmission lines could significantly reduce the costs of expanding wind energy.

Wind resource development might not be the most profitable use of the land. Land suitable for wind-turbine installation must compete with alternative uses for the land, which might be more highly valued than electricity generation.

Turbines might cause noise and aesthetic pollution. Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment compared to conventional power plants, concern exists over the noise produced by the turbine blades and visual impacts to the landscape.

Turbine blades could damage local wildlife. Birds have been killed by flying into spinning turbine blades. Most of these problems have been resolved or greatly reduced through technological development or by properly siting wind plants.