Solar over-canal projects sound like winners, so why aren't they being installed everywhere? We take a look at Arizona's project to find out why.
Solar over-canal projects sound like winners, so why aren’t they being installed everywhere? We take a look at Arizona’s project to find out why.The project could help save water and generate electricity.in the state’s history – 15 years long and counting. With devastating heat, record-breaking wildfires, a growing shortage of water in the Colorado River, and increased urgency in fighting climate change, Arizona is preparing to try something new.
The panels will generate energy from Arizona’s abundant sunlight and also act as a barrier to limit the amount of water evaporating from the canal in the desert heat. The water below the panels will also help to cool the panels and keep them operating at optimal temperatures. There are also plans to establish an irrigation system to deliver water to 146,300 acres of native American farmland. If successful, the solar canal could be extended to cover sections of this vital canal.In 2015, SunEdison completed a solar canal pilot project in Gujarat, India, which began in 2012. The project included a 1 megawatt canal-top solar power plant located over the Krishna River and Dam. It operated over a stretch of canal around 2,460 feet long .
Back in Arizona and California, however, land is more expensive, creating better conditions for the building of CTPVs. In California, the state has committed $20 million in public funds for a pilot project, dubbed Project Nexus, covering around 1.6 miles of canals in the Turlock Irrigation District with solar panels. The project, which Solar AquaGrid will construct, is underway and expected to be completed in 2024.
According to Solar AquaGrid, the project is intended to “study the viability and scalability of this application so we may help stimulate broader development across miles of open canals in the arid West and achieve multiple benefits simultaneously.” The researchers also found that the financial benefits from shading the canals would outweigh the costs of the structures required to install the panels, writing in the study that “The net present value of over-canal solar exceeds conventional overground solar by 20–50%, challenging the convention of leaving canals uncovered and calling into question our understanding of the most economic locations for solar power.
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