AQA GCSE Wind and Solar

Wind

The wind will make the turbine blades move in a circular pattern, which turns a generator to produce electricity.

Kinetic energy store of the wind is mechanically converted to kinetic energy store of the generator. The kinetic energy store of the generator causes electricity to be produced, which is transferred electrically.

The electricity produced can be used for:

Heating of homes with electric heaters

Transportation (electric vehicles)

Electrical appliances

Advantages	Disadvantages
No carbon dioxide produced	Can be noisy
Once set up, low cost	Unreliable due to variable wind speed
Low maintenance	Only suitable in certain locations
	Birds cannot see blades spinning
	Need a lot of wind turbines to generate electricity, low energy density.

Solar cells

Solar cells use sunlight and convert it into electricity.

The nuclear energy store in the Sun is transferred by radiation to the Solar cells, when then produce electricity.

The electricity can be used for:

Heating of homes with electric heaters

Transportation (electric vehicles)

Electrical appliances

Advantages	Disadvantages
No carbon dioxide produced	Initial high cost
Low maintenance once installed	low energy density, unreliable

Solar heating panels, or Solar panels

The solar heating panel contains water in pipes, which absorb thermal energy from the Sun’s radiation. This hot water is then supplied to the house.

NOTE the difference between solar panels and solar cells.

Thermal energy store of the Sun is transferred by radiation to the thermal energy store of the water in the pipes.

The energy is used to provide heating in homes and to provide hot water for washing and cleaning.

Advantages	Disadvantages
No carbon dioxide produced	Initial cost is high
Low maintenance once installed	Low energy density
	Unreliable, they can only supply about 60% of the hot water needed for a house