GRAPEVINE Solar panels on canals

nia Today” article by Soumya Karlamangla discusses a novel idea to use land already suitable for a solar project.

Covering up the state’s canals and aqueducts with solar panels can generate renewable energy and limit a lot of evaporation from the open waterways. A new statefunded program has started to see if it would work. I suggested something similar quite a while back in this column to do the same with solar panels on the southern border walls to generate power for cameras and other surveillant equipment, plus supply power to neighboring communities on both sides of the border. Could help pay for operating costs for maintenance on the wall.

As you have driven through the state, some of you must have thought, seeing the miles of the state water canal system, “I wonder how much evaporation, water, is being lost, especially on hot days in the San Joaquin Valley?” Solar AquaGrid, a Bay Area company that is overseeing and designing the project, says, “It’s just common sense in our eyes.” The state (us), through the California Department of Water Resources, is putting up $20 million in Stanislaus County to try out the project and see where else along the 4,000 miles of canals it would make the best sense to install these solar panels. This system is one of the largest water conveyance systems in the entire world. The collaboration includes Solar Aquagrid, the Turlock Irrigation District, and the University of California Merced researchers who will analyze and track the project.