Solar-Covered Canals Catching On In India
In India, they’re taking a different approach to canals – covering them with solar panels, on racks that span the width of the canals. In April, the state of Gujarat unveiled a project said to generate up to 1 MW of power. Now there are reports that Uttar Pradesh, in the far north of India, bordering Nepal, could be embarking on an even more extensive solar canal project.
The Times of India said the Uttar Pradesh government wants to do canal-based solar in five different areas of the state, and these would be bigger projects than in Gujarat: Each would provide 10 MW, according to Times report.
The paper said a rule of thumb is that it takes 1 to 1.5 kilometers of canal to produce a megawatt of power, so we’re talking anywhere from 10 to 15 kilometers – about 6 to 10 miles – of covered canal in each of the five localities. This in a state that has 74,000 kilometers of canals.
Finally, the Indians say that by covering the canals, valuable water is saved – in Gujarat, they say the installation will prevent the evaporation of “90 lakh litrest of water” annually — 2.37 million gallons, by our calculation.