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A guide to renewable energy

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About renewable energy

Find out more about different types of renewable energy in our short videos. On the next page, we have a guide to show how different technologies look.

Electricity

Heating

Heating and electricity

Energy saving

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Visual guide to types of renewable technology

Solar panels:

Ground mounted solar panels, also know as a solar farm, looks like this:

Four long rectangular panels are on small legs coming out of a grassy field. They are tilted at a slight angle to face the sun

Photo credit: Gabriel via Unsplash

Roof mounted solar panels look like this:

A house roof has 6 square black solar panels on it facing the sun

Photo credit: Vivint Solar via Unsplash

Wind turbines

Wind turbines can be different sizes and the height of the turbine will affect how much electricity it can produce. Larger turbines have a greater visual impact, but also substantially greater output than smaller turbines. An 80 meter (3 megawatt) turbine would typically generate 270 times as much electricity as a 15 meter tall (10 kilowatt) turbine.

An image of four wind turbines getting bigger. The smallest is 15 meters high, the second smallest is 30 meters high, the medium is 60 meters high, the biggest is 80 meters high. The electricity generation of each turbine increases with size.

Photo from CSE Neighbourhood Planning Guidance

Micro hydro power

Dependent on a reliable flow of water and a fall of water to generate the momentum to spin a turbine. This image shows a weir where turbines could be installed to generate electricity from the falling water.

Photo credit: Bristol Energy Cooperative

Energy battery storage

Solar panels and wind turbines have white square cubes like a fridge between them, this is the battery storage.

Anaerobic digestion

Generated heat by breaking down biodegradable material (typically a mix of farm slurry, factory waste and food waste) to produce biogas, which can be used to generate electricity and/or heat. Dependent on finding a suitable site for the industrial plant (often on a farm) and obtaining sufficient food and agricultural waste to feed it.

4 blue round metal structures around 30 meters tall are in an industrial landscape with a road around them.

Photo credit: Vortexrealm via WikiCommons

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