https://sites.google.com/site/anatom...a-and-analysis
This may be why Tx is so heavy into wind. It's, by far, cheaper and more efficient than solar today.
One wind turbine generated the same amount of electricity per kWh as about 48704 solar panels. To manufacture and maintain 48704 solar panels, 28,126,560 kWh must be consumed. It took 23,822,339 kWh more to produce 48704 solar panels than it takes to produce one wind turbine.
When comparing the amount of CO2 released per kWh during a wind turbine and solar panel's life cycle, the wind turbine produced 4.64 grams of CO2/1kWh while the solar panel produced 70 grams of CO2/1kWh. This means the wind turbine released less CO2 than the solar panel to the atmosphere.
Energy balance is the amount of time needed to pay back the energy consumed. The lower the pay back time, the sooner the machine* starts producing energy that is renewable. The wind turbine took only 6.6 months to repay its energy balance while the solar panel took 3.2 years. Because the turbine took less time to repay its energy balance, the turbine can then profit from the energy generated after its payment.
Energy Return on Investment (EROI) is used to compare the quan y of energy supplied to the quan y of energy used in supply process. The higher the ratio, the less energy is consumed in producing the energy. The wind turbine's EROI is approximately 36.5 :1 while solar energy has a EROI of 5:1. We can deduce that that the wind turbines return more energy for a certain amount of energy invested.*