The first solar-over-canal project in California, which started with research at UC Merced, has begun producing electricity. Plans are now in the works to expand the technology to other areas.
A groundbreaking initiative led by faculty from seven top research universities aims to accelerate the deployment of solar arrays over California's extensive canal network.
According to a 2021 UC Merced study published in Nature Sustainability, covering large sections of the state's 4,000 miles of canals with arrays of solar panels could help conserve water, reduce air pollution, save land, and generate clean energy using existing land and infrastructure.
A pilot effort, Project Nexus, is being built over Turlock Irrigation District canals to test the theory. The pilot is funded by the state of California and is a public-private-academic partnership between Turlock Irrigation District, Solar AquaGrid, UC Merced and the California Department of Water Resources.
At a solar summit in Sacramento on Monday, TID General Manager Brad Koehn said the panels on the initial phase of Project Nexus have started to generate electricity.
The California Solar Canal Initiative (CSCI) research project aims to accelerate the use of solar power across the state by equipping government agencies, utilities, community members and other interested parties with data on optimal locations and identifying willing host communities.
Led by the University of Southern California (USC) Dornsife Public Exchange and independent advisor Solar AquaGrid , CSCI researchers will collaborate with the state agencies responsible for water and land: California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and California Natural Resource Agency (CNRA).
“California is leading the way in exploring innovative solutions to tackle climate change and strengthen our water and energy resilience,” said CNRA Secretary Wade Crowfoot. “We are excited to see top research institutions come together to help deploy solar panels over water canals — a big idea with great potential ...”
CSCI researchers will evaluate solar canals' potential to address the needs of a rapidly changing energy market, compete with other distributed-solar projects, enhance current canal operations and maintenance procedures, navigate existing water and land regulations and provide numerous benefits to communities where projects are developed.
USC Dornsife Public Exchange has assembled a multidisciplinary research team that includes faculty from USC, UC Merced, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Law San Francisco, San Jose State University and the University of Kansas.
The CSCI research is guided by an advisory council of experts from government, academia and the private sector to ensure its outcomes are actionable. The Advisory Council, chaired by Solar AquaGrid, includes members from DWR, CNRA, California Forward, New Energy Nexus, Environmental Policy Center and Stanford Water in the West. On March 24, the California Solar Canal Summit was held in Sacramento with research faculty, advisors, state agencies and community partners in attendance.
While not all canals are suitable for solar installations, the UC Merced study, led by project scientist Brandi McKuin, estimated that covering all 4,000 miles of California's exposed canals with solar panels could generate enough electricity to power about 2 million homes each year, conserve enough water to supply up to 2 million homes annually and reduce land use by placing solar arrays on developed land.
“We hypothesized that putting solar panels over canals would have multiple benefits,” McKuin said in a video promoting Project Nexus.
The study indicated that covering significant portions of canals could provide benefits beyond power and water, including conserving up to 50,000 acres of land and habitat by placing solar arrays over existing infrastructure; lowering maintenance costs by shading the canals, which reduces weed and algae growth in the canals; enhancing the efficiency of the solar panels due to the cooling effect of the water below; and creating local jobs to install and maintain the systems.
Although California experienced multiple episodes of intense rainfall and flooding emergencies in the past two years, scientists predict the state will continue to swing between intense rainfall and prolonged droughts. Droughts have plagued the state for thousands of years, but they are worsened by climate change, emphasizing the continued need to conserve water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while meeting the state's increasing energy needs.
CSCI represents the next step in the state's commitment to exploring solar canal deployment to meet its 2045 clean energy goals and 30x30 conservation commitment.
