https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/02/19/solar-panels-canals
"For the first time in the United States, a tribe in Arizona is building a
solar farm over an irrigation canal to produce clean energy and save water at a
time of unrelenting drought.
The Gila River Indian Community has broken ground on a project to put solar
panels over nearly 3,000 feet of the Casa Blanca canal south of Phoenix. It’s
one phase of a pilot project designed to eventually help the tribe reach its
goal of using 100% renewable power.
The idea is modeled after a similar project in India, says David DeJong,
director of the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project.
“Nobody’s ever done this before,” he says.
The Turlock Irrigation District in California’s Central Valley is expected to
start a project of its own soon.
DeJong says money from the Inflation Reduction Act funded the solar farm, and
it will eventually produce enough electricity to power several thousand homes.
Putting the panels over the irrigation canal will also cast a shadow on the
water to prevent evaporation.
“We’re pretty confident we’re going to be able to reduce evaporative losses by
at least 50%, possibly by as high as two-thirds,” DeJong says
On a relatively small stretch of canal, that amounts to about 10 acre-feet of
water a year — enough water to irrigate about two acres of land, says DeJong."
Via
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Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
