There will be two pilot projects - a 500-foot canal span in Hickman, east of Modesto, and a canal
If all 6,440 km of California canals werecovered with solar panels, this would allow the production of 13 gigawatts of renewable energy. One gigawatt is enough to power 750,000 homes, that is, this energy would be enough for 9.75 million households. For comparison, as of July 2021, there were 13.1 million households in California.
Canal covering concept with solar panels
India already has solar panels above canals, but the 1 mile long Nexus project in California's San Joaquin Valley will be the first of its kind in the US.
“The Nexus project includes the installation of awningssolar arrays over various sections of irrigation canals in the Turlock Irrigation District. The Nexus project will serve as a proof of concept and to further explore the design, deployment, and attendant benefits of using solar instead of channels,” the district said.
The project is expected to start operating in autumn 2022 and the pilot period will be completed by the end of 2024.
Nexus will also show if the solarbatteries evaporation of water as a result of the formation of a midday shadow and softening of the wind; whether water quality will improve by reducing vegetation growth and whether the cost of canal maintenance will decrease because of this; and, of course, will generate renewable electricity.
"Most of the rain and snow in Californiafalls north of Sacramento in winter, and 80% of water use occurs in Southern California, mostly in summer. That's why canals meander all over the state - it's the largest such system in the world. According to our estimates, about 1-2% of the water they carry is lost due to evaporation under the hot California sun,” says Roger Bales, eminent professor of engineering at the University of California, “In a 2021 study, we showed that the coverage of all 6,440 km of channels California solar panels will save more than 246 billion liters of water annually by reducing evaporation. This is enough to irrigate more than 20,000 hectares of agricultural land or supply water to more than 2 million people.”
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