There are plenty of ways to save water around the house. Greywater systems are among the best, while simpler techniques include low-flow toilets and showerheads. But what about solar? Energy from the sun proves more useful, in more ways, everyday. Yet can solar help you save water? Solar hot water systems certainly make a sizable dent in water and electricity bills and solar electric systems can power your entire home! But when asked how solar could save water I balked…wondering what? how? Then just as I was in the midst of a good head-scratch, it hit me…

Gaining even a portion of independence from the conventional, fossil-fueled electrical grid has major ramifications for water. More water than I ever fathomed is used just to power a light bulb, let alone an entire home. A few quick facts:

• Keeping a 60W light bulb lit for 12 hours uses nearly 16 gallons of water.
• Fossil-fuel fired thermoelectric plants use more than 132 billion gallons of fresh water per day in the United States.

This just blew my mind! It takes over a gallon of water per hour to keep an incandescent light bulb lit for one hour. However, if I were getting electricity from solar panels on my roof, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, then all this water consumption would go down the drain.

While you may not see it on paper, you can bet the solar farm that your solar system is saving water–by the bucketload.

Posted on August 25th in Solar Information by Dan.