By NATALIE HANSON, Courthouse News Service
LOS BANOS, Calif. (CN) — Canals in California may soon feature a new look — solar panel canopies, designed to stop evaporation and soak up the sun’s rays, created under a new project funded with help from the federal government to boost green energy infrastructure.
Governor Gavin Newsom joined staff from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Thursday to highlight a new “solar-over-canal” project along one of the state’s primary aqueducts. The pilot project proposes placing a solar canopy to “float” over a major waterway as a source of renewable energy that can also prevent the loss of precious water through evaporation.
Adam Nickels, Deputy Regional Director at the Bureau of Reclamation, said that the Biden Inflation Reduction Act helped make it possible to pick a portion of the Delta-Mendota Canal for placement of a solar panel in Merced County.
About $19 million from Biden’s fund is designed to help fund solar projects, with $15 million going toward making “floating solar” research happen.
Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton of the Bureau of Reclamation said that researchers hope to identify the best design for floating solar projects and what will work to pair with existing waterways.
Representative Jim Costa, a Democrat from Fresno, praised Biden for investing in infrastructure while criticizing the former Trump administration for making promises to do so “that never happened.”
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