Do Solar Panels Take Less Water Than Coal

The overall greenhouse gas emissions involved in solar energy is still much lower than coal or natural gas.

Do solar panels take less water than coal.

Because less than 11 of each panel has salvageable metals there isn t much money in recycling. Workers install solar panels in california. All modern technology including renewable energy depends on the non renewable resources that make it possible. I say at least because the most often cited report is by danish utility vattenfall from 1999.

A 2011 report showed that solar s carbon footprint averaged at roughly 85 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent co 2 e per gigawatt hour gwh while natural gas and coal came in at 499 co 2 e gwh and 888 co 2 e gwh respectively. This has made pv recycling a bit of a challenge in the us. So looked at energy generation over time the land footprint of coal is at least 20 bigger than that of solar. And that is with solar at its current efficiency.

So let s get this straight. Wind handily beats out even solar pv at less than a gallon per megawatt hour. Solar panels are at least 20x better on the climate than coal kwh for kwh. In japan india.

There are two interesting side notes drawn from the river network s report worth mentioning. First solar isn t the most water efficient form of energy generation according to those 2012 figures. For example every step in the production of solar photovoltaic pv power systems. The big boom for solar installations.

Although solar energy is a clean alternative to fossil fuels making the panels themselves can have a negative environmental impact. Law producers are required to ensure their solar panels are recycled properly. Greenhouse gas emissions hazardous materials such as hydrochloric acid and acetone are also used in solar cell manufacturing. The 550 mw desert sunlight solar farm for example is one of the largest solar power plants in the world with 8 8 million solar panels covering six square miles.

Although this process still consumes some water it s only 1 or 2 percent of the water necessary for coal and natural gas energy production. The more efficient solar becomes the less space it needs to generate each kilowatt.