The first solar-over-canal project in California, built over Turlock Irrigation District canals east of Hickman, has been completed.
Project Nexus, an initiative led by seven top California research universities, aims to accelerate the deployment of solar panels over California’s extensive canal network.
Work at the 115-foot wide canal began in February with the installation of concrete footings and was completed and energized at the end of August. Project Nexus has a generation capacity of 1.6 MW between the wide-span and narrow-span—which was completed in March—all of which is integrated into TID’s generation portfolio.
According to a UC Merced study that was published in “Nature Sustainability,” covering large sections of the state’s 4,000 miles of canals with solar panels could help conserve water, reduce air pollution, save land, and generate clean energy using existing land and infrastructure.
Project Nexus is utilizing TID canals to test the theory. The pilot program is funded by the state of California and is a public-private-academic partnership between TID, Solar AquaGrid, UC Merced and the California Department of Water Resources.
Led by the University of Southern California’s Dornsife Public Exchange, and independent advisor Solar AquaGrid, CSCI researchers will collaborate with state agencies to extend the solar network.
“California is leading the way in exploring innovative solutions to tackle climate change and strengthen our water and energy resilience,” said California Natural Resource Agency 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..”
While not all canals are suitable for solar installations, the UC Merced study 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.
There are other benefits to placing the panels over canals:
• 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 running underneath;
• 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, emphasizing the need to conserve water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while meeting the state’s increasing energy needs.
Project Nexus, the first of its kind in the nation, emerged after Solar AquaGrid commissioned a study led by UC Merced researcher Brandi McKuin to predict the potential power generation and water savings from placing solar panels over canals. TID, providing both water and power to its customers, agreed to host the pilot project. The state Department of Water Resources awarded $20 million in funding for the pilot project and is providing technical assistance to TID to study this project. The funding was allocated by Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state Legislature through 2021-22 state budget.
