[ExI] First California solar canal project

William Flynn Wallace foozler83 at gmail.com
Sat Mar 5 02:03:45 UTC 2022


They would not have to cover the entire area of the canals for this
project.  Leave a few miles near towns clear of the panels.  Lots of room -
4000 miles.  bill w

On Fri, Mar 4, 2022 at 4:54 PM BillK via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> First solar canal project is a win for water, energy, air and climate
> in California
> February 22, 2022
> Roger Bales
> Distinguished Professor of Engineering, University of California, Merced
>
> <
> https://theconversation.com/first-solar-canal-project-is-a-win-for-water-energy-air-and-climate-in-california-177433
> >
>
> Quotes:
> About 4,000 miles of canals transport water to some 35 million
> Californians and 5.7 million acres of farmland across the state. As we
> explained in a 2021 study, covering these canals with solar panels
> would reduce evaporation of precious water – one of California’s most
> critical resources – and help meet the state’s renewable energy goals,
> while also saving money.
>
> Installing solar panels over the canals makes both systems more
> efficient. The solar panels would reduce evaporation from the canals,
> especially during hot California summers. And because water heats up
> more slowly than land, the canal water flowing beneath the panels
> could cool them by 10 F, boosting production of electricity by up to
> 3%.
>
> Turlock Irrigation District, in California’s San Joaquin Valley, will
> build the first solar canal prototype in partnership with project
> developer Solar Aquagrid, researchers and others and supported by the
> state Department of Water Resources.
> --------------
>
> Sounds like a good idea!
> One possible downside (not mentioned in the article) is that in the UK
> canals and rivers support a very large summer holiday boating leisure
> industry. Sometimes there are so many hire cruisers on the canals that
> traffic jams occur.  Perhaps Californians don't do river cruising,
> with stops at convenient riverside bars.  :)
> Covering the canals with solar panels would make that impossible.
>
> BillK
>
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