3 ms·
Solar is quite location (and latitude) dependent. Duluth gets about half of the annual Global Horizontal Irradiance that Tuscon does, and that's before account
by samcheng 8y ago
Solar is quite location (and latitude) dependent.
Duluth gets about half of the annual Global Horizontal Irradiance that Tuscon does, and that's before accounting for the fact that snow will sometimes cover the panels. In addition, Minnesota has significantly lower electricity prices than the big coastal states (partially due to the great wind resource in the SW corner of the state, partially due to political reasons).
There are other things you can do to make an impact in MN, though. An obvious one is roof and window insulation...
- tshannon 8y agoI've always wondered if it makes any sense (if you have the property) to setup a windmill instead of solar panels. I don't think there's much market in smaller / single home windmill installations and so the costs are probably much, much higher.
- duxup 8y agoI wondered the same. There are small windmills I've seen on cabins and such for intermittent use.
- olau 8y agoSmall wind turbines are usually not terribly practical (noisy and highly visible), and also ineffective because of low hub height and wind shade in residential areas. The multi MW giants that are erected these days on tall towers just make so much more sense.
- EADGBE 8y agoThere's some talk of combined solar/wind residential use. Here's a video I found of a comparison of residential wind turbines, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opP13e-TvHM&t=1402s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opP13e-TvHM&t=1402s. This is a DIY resource, though.