Solar on canals reduces water evaporation by 70% and algae growth by 85%(www.pv-magazine.com)
25 pointsby ndr425 hours ago5 comments
  • deskamessan hour ago
    Reducing algae growth makes sense for canals. Would this be a desirable outcome if we were placing panels on, say, a body of water behind a dam (at a safe distance, and contained). Are there ecological impacts of reducing algae growth?
  • xhkkffbf7 minutes ago
    Why do we arch the panels over the water? I've heard some say they need to send boats down the canal for maintenance. Okay. But why not just have lower panels that can be lifted in case of trouble? They're less likely to get blown around by wind and that should make them cheaper to build. And they could reduce evaporation and algae even more.
  • cowthulhuan hour ago
    Unfortunately I suspect this idea is somewhat dead-on-arrival… anti-renewable people will fight it for obvious reasons, while environmentalists will fight it due to concerns over shading the waterways.
    • scientator12 minutes ago
      Why would environmentalists be concerned about shading canals?
    • stavrosan hour ago
      What's the fallacy called where you oppose something based on the fact that it has impact on something, not realising that the alternative is is even worse?

      I see people talk about how ugly solar panels make mountainsides, but when I ask "would you prefer a coal factory there instead?" nobody would.

  • pingou5 hours ago
    Seems promising but it would have been nice to have some figures and the estimated cost at scale (or even just costs for the prototype).
    • Jtsummersan hour ago
      > The Nexus project, a 1.6 MW solar installation on the canals of the Turlock Irrigation District (TID) in California, is now complete and operational. The $20 million state-funded pilot is presented as a model for agricultural regions affected by water stress.

      It's the web, follow the links to related pages and you usually find more information.

  • aaron695an hour ago
    [dead]