Here is what California is learning from solar panels built over irrigation canals.
...
Thinking back to the baking concrete canals, Harris pitched an “obvious” solution to his friend Robin Raj: Why not build solar panels on top of California’s 4,000 miles of open canals that transport water across the state? The panels would produce clean energy while limiting evaporation by shading the canal — a win-win. ...
Project Nexus tests not one, but three different solar canal models. A wide-span canopy rises over one of Turlock’s 115-foot canals, resembling the top of a barn. A more classic set of slanting solar panels sits atop a 20-foot canal. And accordion-like retractable panels are positioned low across the narrow canal, ready to roll up at a moment’s notice. ...
If the state put panels over 100 miles of the wide canals, it could save 11,000 households’ worth.
He also estimates that the narrow and the wide canal could generate 330 to 1,4000 megawatts per hundred miles respectively — enough to power 77,000 to 304,000 households. ...
See the full story here: https://www.kqed.org/science/2002033/heres-what-california-is-learning-from-solar-panels-built-over-irrigation-canals
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