Tag Archive for: solarcanal

Installing solar panels over irrigation canals has the potential to provide a multitude of benefits while reducing the energy footprint.

Construction has begun on a pilot project to install solar panels above two sections of Central Valley canals. This innovative initiative, which studies significant power and water issues, has already garnered recognition.

Project Nexus, a partnership between the Turlock Irrigation District (TID), the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), Bay Area development firm Solar AquaGrid, and UC Merced, received the Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Award from the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance (CCEEB).

CCEEB describes itself as a “nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of business, labor, and public leaders, which advances balanced policies for a healthy environment and a strong economy.”

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Source: UC Merced

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Work is nearly complete on a pilot project erecting solar canopies over a canal on tribal land south of Phoenix.

Work is nearly complete on a pilot project erecting solar canopies over a canal on tribal land south of Phoenix. When finished, it will be the first solar-covered canal in the U.S.

The project will cover a half-mile of the Casa-Blanca Canal, part of a network owned by the Gila River Indian Community, and will deliver power to the Pima and Maricopa tribes. Tectonicus, the firm behind the project, expects it will connect to the grid this summer, Canary Media reports. A similar canal pilot project is underway south of Modesto, California, and is set to be completed next year.

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Source: Yale Environment 360

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Three large projects in CA, UT, and OR will cover water reclamation facilities with solar panels for energy production and water conservation

Three projects in California, Utah, and Oregon will soon integrate solar panels onto water canals, thanks to federal funding from the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which allocated $25 million for PV installations co-located with water reclamation facilities.

The three projects will receive a combined $19.5 million to support the projects, which are administered by the Bureau of Reclamation, an agency tackling the challenges of water and power management in the western United States.

This IRA carve-out was created with input from California Representative Jared Huffman. The program directed to study the water efficiency gains from covering canals with solar panels.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Project Nexus’s feasibility study estimates that installing solar canals where possible in CA could save 63 billion gallons of water annually.

The upcoming COP28 climate conference has suddenly blown up in a wave of scandal, but the energy transition marches on. Exhibit A is the idea of shading irrigation canals with solar panels for a planet-saving win-win-win. The cooling effect of the water improves solar conversion efficiency, the shade prevents excess water loss from evaporation, and the use of built infrastructure preserves land from development. What’s not to like?

Water Saving Solar Panels On Canals In California

The idea of water-saving solar panels on canals first surfaced in India back in 2012. More recently it crossed the CleanTechnica radar in February of 2022 when a collaborative public-private PV collaboration called Project Nexus began taking shape in California, using a canal in the state’s Turlock Irrigation District as a proving ground.

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Source: Clean Technica

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The Gila River Indian Community signed a project partnership agreement with US Army Corps of Engineers to put solar panels over its canals.

The Gila River Indian Community signed a project partnership agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers to put solar panels over its canals.

This means the US Army Corps of Engineers will kick off construction on Phase I of the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project Renewable Energy Pilot south of Phoenix, Arizona.

The pilot is part of a broader effort by the Biden administration and the Bureau of Reclamation to implement solutions for the drought crisis that’s threatening the Colorado River Basin.

The objective is to create clean energy and conserve water in the Tribe’s canal. The Gila River Indian Community is the home of the Akimel O’otham (Pima) and the Pee-Posh (Maricopa) tribes.

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Source: electrek

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Research suggests that suspending solar arrays over canals can not only generate electricity but may also reduce water evaporation in drought-prone regions.

Some 8,000 miles of federally owned canals snake across the United States, channeling water to replenish crops, fuel hydropower plants and supply drinking water to rural communities. In the future, these narrow waterways could serve an additional role: as hubs of solar energy generation.

A coalition of environmental groups is urging the federal government to consider carpeting its canals with solar panels. The concept was pioneered in India a decade ago and will soon be tested in California for the first time. Early research suggests that suspending solar arrays over canals can not only generate electricity in land-constrained areas but may also reduce water evaporation in drought-prone regions.

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Source: Canary Media

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