I recently wrote a post as an overview of the energy-water nexus. Here are a couple articles that highlight the link between solar projects and water.
Armagosa Valley, Nevada (freefoto.com)
Last year, the New York Times ran an article about how a promising solar project in Armagosa Valley, Nevada, by Solar Millenium ran hard up against western worries about water. The two proposed solar farms would require 1.3 billion gallons of water a year, or 20 percent of the local water available.
The Las Vegas Sun reports on the Skyline Solar facility in Nipton, California, that will use concentrating solar photovoltaic (CPV). CPV plants are expected to use much less water than solar thermal plants, which means they may be better candidates for places with lots of sun, but not as much water.
The energy-water nexus generally refers to needing water to produce energy and needing energy to move and filter water; however, it seemed fitting to include a story about using the sun and water to reduce energy use:
NPR reports that the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base in North Carolina is becoming one of the largest communities to widely install solar hot water panels. FLS Energy owns and installs the panels and then sells the hot water to the base, which means that there are basically only two main actors and decision-makers needed to install systems on all 900 homes. (The base is also planning a LEED Platinum fitness center – more info on the base website.)
