Photovoltaic solar power such as the panels installed on the roof of a home use no water at all in order to generate electricity. While these photovoltaic systems need occasional cleaning, their operation demonstrates remarkable water conservation benefits. . Coal-fired power plants use up 1,100 gallons of water for each megawatt-hour of power produced. (A megawatt-hour is about what a typical California household would consume in six or seven weeks. ) Nuclear and natural-gas-fired power plants use water 800 and 300 gallons for the same amount of power. . To begin at the beginning, the production of solar panels is no different to any other production processes: water plays a role in producing certain components such as the production of photovoltaic units. Modern manufacturing facilities. . Solar power plants, whether concentrating solar power (CSP) or photovoltaic systems (PV), offer pollution-free electricity generation with impacts on local water sources that are comparable to and often less than traditional fossil fuel generation. Water use requirements for solar power plants. .
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