Within a couple of years, drivers in San Diego County can expect to see solar panels along the highway.
That’s the plan for Senate Bill 49, one of a number of energy-related legislation Sacramento lawmakers passed and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law.
A proposal to place solar panels over the 370-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct in an attempt to reduce evaporation and add capacity for renewable energy for residents was approved by a council committee this week. Around one-tenth of the water in the aqueduct is lost from evaporation each year due to the length of travel for water to make it through the aqueduct, according to the office of Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, who introduced the motion. O’Farrell is the chair of the council’s Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and River committee.
A California utility is set to test out whether covering canals with solar panels can save water by preventing evaporation, among other benefits.
Project Nexus is being run on a small stretch of canals operated by the Turlock Irrigation District in central California. The idea is based on an academic paper, which suggested doing this could also generate solar energy on land that wouldn’t have to be disturbed.
Solar panels are coming to two California canals. The “Project Nexus” follows research from the University of California-Merced finding substantial benefits for water quality and delivery, in addition to the benefits of renewable power generation.
This first-of-its-kind pilot project will install solar arrays over two canals (one 25-feet wide and one 110-foot-wide) in the Turlock Irrigation District, allowing operators to monitor and evaluate the arrays’ impacts on water quality and evaporation and learn more about the potential maintenance and logistical issues involved with installing and operating solar panels over the canals.
Sometime next summer, there’s a decent chance a heat wave will bake the American West, and California’s power grid will again be stretched to its limits. As the sun sets, solar panels will start generating less electricity even as temperatures remain high. Power plants that burn natural gas will fire up as quickly as possible, in a race to keep air conditioners blowing and avert the need for rolling blackouts.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
