Well, the ideal is to have a hybrid of both a wind turbine and solar power system. This keeps the energy flow constant and increases your chances of always producing renewable energy.

The funny thing that we have found is the sun and wind tend to occur at opposite times

When it’s sunny, there is little wind, and when it’s windy, it is either overcast or night time.

So, yes, go for a hybrid to be safe.

But if you want to get really technical, then your choice depends on 2 obvious factors:

1) The wind conditions in your area – a constant medium (12mph) wind is sufficient

- heavy gusts or stormy winds could ruin a diy turbine.

- and slow winds won’t spin it fast enough to produce sufficient power.

2) The sunlight hrs in your area – the more the better.

- look at our article on Calculating Basic Solar Panel Watt Requirements and Costs to see a sunlight hrs map of the US.

We’ll post this response in the BlogCatalog forum too.

-> see the discussion