One study estimates that covering California’s canals with solar panels could generate enough energy to power Los Angeles for most of the year.
Back in 2015, California’s dry earth was crunching under a fourth year of drought.
Then-Governor Jerry Brown ordered an unprecedented 25 per cent reduction in home water use. Farmers, who use the most water, volunteered too to avoid deeper, mandatory cuts.
Brown also set a goal for the state to get half its energy from renewable sources, with climate change bearing down.
Yet when entrepreneurs Jordan Harris and Robin Raj went knocking on doors with an idea that addresses both water loss and climate pollution – installing solar panels over irrigation canals – they couldn’t get anyone to commit.
Fast forward eight years. With devastating heat, record-breaking wildfire, looming crisis on the Colorado River, a growing commitment to fighting climate change, and a little bit of movement-building, their company Solar AquaGrid is preparing to break ground on the first solar-covered canal project in the United States.
“All of these coming together at this moment,” Harris said. “Is there a more pressing issue that we could apply our time to?”
The idea is simple: install solar panels over canals in sunny, water-scarce regions where they reduce evaporation and make electricity.
Energy News Beat