California is experiencing overwhelming droughts. They are trying to fight the droughts by installing solar panel canopies over local Central California canals.
The project will cost some $20 million. The project is funded by the state and has been named “Project Nexus.” It is estimated that there will be 8,500 feet of solar panels canopies put up over the Turlock Irrigation District canals. They will more than likely break ground in fall 2022 and it should be completed sometime in 2023. Such a short timeline is exciting for the state and any other state who may also want to do this in the future.
The whole concept is to unite energy and water management, according to the Turlock Irrigation District (TID). They want to “increase renewable power generation while reducing water evaporation and vegetative growth in canals.”
TID states that the project will also serve as a “proof of concept” to further study “solar over canal design.” The agency cites a 2021 University of California, Merced study, which showed that covering all of the approximately 4,000 miles of public water delivery system infrastructure in the state with solar panels could save an estimated 63 billion gallons of water annually, as well as result in significant energy and cost savings.
The Turlock Irrigation District wrote on their website, “According to the study, the 13 gigawatts of solar power the panels would generate each year would equal about one-sixth of the state’s current installed capacity.”
Numerous actions have been taken to fight the droughts and climate change in California. The Governor, Gavin Newsom, is trying to turn the state to using renewable resources no later than 2030. They also want to stop the sale of any new model gas-powered vehicles no later than 2035. Federal funding in the amount of $310 million will be given to California to focus on the drought. Hopefully, this helps them with the cost of the solar panels canopies.
