India is facing one of the worst water crisis ever. According to a report by NITI Aayog (2018), half of India’s population is under the threat of losing one of the most valued natural resources of all- water.
While this is one side of the coin, the other is that approximately 70 percent of our drinkable water sources are contaminated and the increasing number of draughts are only adding to the worry.
Even though concentrated efforts are being made to save water in more than just way, a smart and futuristic way to begin rectifying the damage we as individuals have caused to the planet is to choose solar. Not only is solar a sustainable and renewable source of never ending energy but also does a great deal to save water.
Here are some ways in which solar is the better bet when it comes to
Most energy requires water to help cool down the steam turbine which generates electricity. According to an estimate, ‘electric generation consumes more than three trillion gallons of water globally per year.’ This is already in a time where draughts and a water crisis is a serious cause for concern.
Solar on the other hand does not use any water for electricity generation, except for when the solar panels are cleaned. The ability of solar panels to generate electricity without water in the mix can be life changing for most countries.
Neither do solar panels require water to generate electricity, nor to save sunlight. The only bit of water that does get used is when the panels are manufactured and then why they are cleaned.
Contrary to this water is used in large amounts at the time of coal extraction and when mining of
2. Floating Solar Energy Saves Water
Floatovoltaics/ floating solar farms are becoming increasingly common. When water bodies are covered partially with solar panels for producing clean electricity, there is also the benefit of reduced water evaporation. Notably, floating solar farms have been shown to reduce evaporation by around 70%.
4. Solar Panel Powered Electric Cars Use Less Water Than Their Gasoline Powered Counterparts
Eclectic cars fitted with solar panels will help you consume less water. This is because it takes around 3-6 gallons of water to make a gallon of gasoline. Even environment-friendly alternatives, such as biofuels, are produced with the use of a lot of water. Hence, if your goal is to save water, electric cars with solar panels are the best bet.
5. Capturing The Sun’s Energy Does Not Require Any Water
Water is needed in large quantities for the extraction and processing of fossil fuels. For processes such as fracking and mining, companies use billions of gallons of water unnecessarily, just to produce a polluting and unsustainable form of energy. Even after the fracking process is done, refining and transporting the fuel requires loads of water that could have been used for better purposes.
Whichever way you look at it, solar power is clean, renewable, and helps you save water. As a result, your home or company can make use of it to produce energy in a manner that does not deplete an essential resource like water.
With people being environmentally cautious and looking for new ways to save energy,solar is becoming very popular, for many reasons.
Not only does it save you money on electricity, but it’s more efficient and earth friendly. Along with money, solar energy also saves water, which is used abundantly from coal to nuclear.
Water Reservation
One way that solar energy saves water is through water reservation. Unlike processes such as coal mining and fracking, drilling into the Earth to release gas, solar energy doesn’t require as much water. Compare solar energy, which uses 0 gallons of water to fracking, which uses approximately 3-6 million gallons per well and coal, which uses 100-1,000 gallons of water. That is a lot of water used on energy. Solar panels do not require water in order to generate energy. Floating solar panels is another form of water reservation. The floating panels increase clean power as well as reduces the evaporation process.
1) Solar panels use no water to generate power
Conventional electric power plants use vast amounts of water to cool themselves off. In 2010, U.S. power plants were responsible for 45 percent of total water withdrawals, 38 percent of total freshwater withdrawals, and 51 percent of fresh surface-water withdrawals for all uses, according to the US Geological Survey.
Solar panels, on the other hand, generate power with no need for cooling and no need for water. A January 2015 report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reveals that producing a unit of electricity with solar panels uses as little as 1/200th of the water used by a typical power plant.
In 2015, solar energy systems deployed by SolarCity collectively avoided more than 32 billion gallons of water use at America’s power plants. That’s enough to fill 49,000 Olympic-sized pools.
2) Capturing solar fuel (sunlight!) does not directly require any water
In contrast, extracting and processing fossil fuels often requires vast amounts of water.
When fossil fuel companies drill for natural gas and oil, they often inject high-pressure liquid into wells to “fracture” underground rocks so the fuel can be extracted. This high-pressure liquid consists mostly of water, which is why they call it “hydraulic fracturing,” or as it’s more commonly known, “fracking.” After fracking, even more water is needed for refining and transportation. A study from Duke University found that energy companies used nearly 250 billion gallons of water to extract shale gas and oil from fracking in the US between 2005 and 2014, which generated about 210 billion gallons of wastewater.
Coal mining in the United States also uses a lot of water, around 80 million to 230 million gallons each day — the equivalent of 10 million to 20 million showers, says the Union for Concerned Scientists. Furthermore, the EPA estimates that strip mining of coal by mountaintop removal has buried almost 2,000 miles of Appalachian headwater streams.
3) It does require some water to make solar panels, but this continues to become less water-intensive due to efficiency and recycling
Like all industrial processes, making solar panels involves some water use. But smart methods in industrial manufacturing – such as efficiency and recycling – can minimize the water footprint and environmental impacts. For example, SolarCity expects its new solar panel manufacturing facility in western New York will recycle 70% of the water use once the facility is operational. Water recycling and efficiency also have helped Trina Solar, one of SolarCity’s panel suppliers, reduce water use more than 43% over a four-year period.
A water conservation organization called the River Network provides a comparative analysis of the lifecycle water use of energy sources. According to the analysis, wind and solar panel technologies have by far the lowest water use. A major reason that solar panels (“photovoltaic solar” in the chart) use comparatively little water is that once they are manufactured and installed, they use absolutely no water to generate electricity during their operating lifetime (SolarCity’s panels last for more than 35 years).
Bars represent gallons of water per megawatt-hour of electricity production. (Source: “The Water Footprint of Electricity” by River Network)
4) Powering an electric car with solar panels uses less water than powering a car with gasoline or biofuels
Using solar power can also reduce your water footprint on the roadways. Since solar power generation has a small lifecycle water footprint, driving an electric car powered by solar panels likewise has a minimal water impact, especially when compared with gasoline (an oil-based fuel that propels the vast majority of today’s vehicles).
Just like coal and natural gas, oil takes a great deal of water to extract and process. Argonne National Laboratory estimates that it takes roughly 3-6 gallons of water to produce one gallon of gasoline. The U.S. consumes around 375 million gallons of gasoline per day, which translates into several hundred billion gallons of water consumption per year.
Liquid biofuels, such as ethanol, can similarly involve enormous amounts of water in the growing and processing of energy crops. Argonne calculates that creating a single gallon of corn-based ethanol can require over two hundred gallons of water consumption.
If you’re into saving water, it’s likely that driving a solar-powered electric vehicle is a wise choice.
5) Floating solar panels save even more water than you think
Floating solar farms, also cleverly called “floatovoltaics” are becoming a thing, from Napa to Japan. Partially covering reservoirs and large bodies of water with solar panels not only increases clean power, but also reduces evaporation. For example, when a vineyard in Napa installed floating panels on an irrigation reservoir, it not only powered the vineyard but also reduced evaporation by 70%. Left unchecked, evaporation can result in dramatic water losses from bodies of freshwater. For example, Lake Mead loses about 800,000 acre-feet of water each year to evaporation, according to the US Bureau of Reclamation.
Floating solar panels convert sunlight into power without using water. Furthermore, they help save water by shading the water beneath and thus reduce evaporation. (Source: VIUDeepBay via Flickr)
6) Solar panels help local water districts improve water management and efficiency
Water utilities that treat drinking water often spend a large part of their operating budget on energy. As part of SolarCity’s water district solar projects, we’ve installed numerous solar systems for water utilities to help them reduce energy costs, from Los Angeles to Connecticut. That can help save and improve water resources in a couple ways.
First, solar-powered water facilities don’t need to use as much electricity from water-intensive power plants.
Two water treatment plants in Sacramento, CA – among other facilities across the nation ‑ have partnered with SolarCity to power their operations with solar energy.
Second, with less expensive energy bills, water utilities can spend the extra resources on things like better water efficiency and state-of-the-art water technology. That’s good news for all water consumers.
7) Solar panels’ water-saving impact is magnified because it’s spreading so fast
We need to solve water problems quickly before they get to a crisis point. Well, it’s hard to find a water-saving solution that’s spreading faster than solar power. In fact, a solar panel system is installed in the U.S. every 2.5 minutes.