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To clarify: not asking similarities between solar and wind energy as a whole but only its technologies/methods of harnessing energy [example: ?turbine blades? in solar towers and wind turbines]

Is there any real way to compare them in the first place? What are some factors involved [other than pollution or sustainability]?

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There is pretty much no common ground between photovoltaics and any other generator of electricity: photovoltaics are (uniquely) a solid-state generator - they can do their job without any moving parts.

Wind turbines have something in common with pretty much all other generators (renewable and non-renewable): they generate electricity by rotating a conductor through a magnetic field (or equivalently, rotating a magnetic field around a conductor). Concentrating solar thermal power generators (CSP) also do this. And all of these have turbine blades, which are driven by one or other fluid.

Of all these generators with moving parts, almost all are heat engines, and thus have their efficiency constrained according to Carnot's Law - their maximum efficiency is determined by the temperatures of the heat source and the heat sink. There are two exceptions I can think of: wind turbines have a maximum efficiency constrained by Betz's Law; and hydro turbines, which have a theoretical upper limit approaching 100% efficiency.


Note that this answer restricts itself to generators that are used at scale on electricity grids. I'm ignoring piezo-electric generators, thermo-electric generators, wave power, and other generator types that are insignificant as far as any national electricity grid goes, at time of writing.

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