Oh hey, this is a great idea! - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

tkingfisher.com • 44 days ago

Oh hey, this is a great idea!

California pilots a solar-over-canal system to combat drought. Project Nexus will cover canals with solar panels, generating clean energy while preventing water evaporation. The project showing potential for 13 GW of annual energy, while saving 50,000 acres of land. buff.ly/ZBokAil
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kludgecreek.bsky.social•44 days ago

Great, but also a big DUH. Cover industrial water, roofs, parking lots. Don’t strip mine habitat for sunlight!

4gabriel.bsky.social•44 days ago

It really is -now they can do solar panels at outdoor areas like shelters for desert camp sites, parking areas outside or even farmers markets or Pow Wow grounds (just spitballing here)

tkingfisher.com•44 days ago

New Mexico has a lot of solar panel covered parking lots. I looked into whether I could do that in my driveway, but it doubles the price because they have to dig and pour concrete.

carniedat.bsky.social•44 days ago

Combining space is certainly helpful, that's for sure. And knowing how Cali is prone to droughts at the best of times, they'll need all the water they can keep...

universalarenas.bsky.social•44 days ago

does it have any negative repercussions for any ecosystems in the canals?

paulawirth.bsky.social•44 days ago

If only our US government put their attention into these projects instead of destroying life as we know it.

(Why I can’t leave California…)

nefariousrich.bsky.social•44 days ago

Wait ten minutes they’ll come out against it… see windmills

shecky.bsky.social•44 days ago

Yup, that and covering flat-roof buildings and parking lots with solar panels. Comparatively small initial investment, money-maker from then on.

dumnorix.bsky.social•44 days ago

Going to cause difficulties dredging the silt/muck build-up they have to periodically do. Those boys aren't delicate with a backhoe, let me tell you (i've lived by or on some Central Valley canals). For the cash, I'm guessing the water districts would be willing to change practices to suit, though.

nebulousmenace.bsky.social•43 days ago

As a slight bonus there's some extra cooling for the panels, making them a couple percent more efficient.

(I have buzzkill answers for the "Why weren't they doing this already?" crowd. If people want them.)

ladondwolf.bsky.social•44 days ago

This idea has been done in other countries and it works quite well.

critical-thinking.de•44 days ago

France just implemented a law making solar over large car parks (supermarkets and similar) mandatory. That is such a win/win, I don’t understand why other countries haven’t copied the idea yet.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2024/11/18/france-publishes-new-provisions-making-solar-mandatory-on-parking-areas/

ulidig.bsky.social•44 days ago

We saw solar over parking at a grocery store years ago on Tenerife. It seemed like such a good idea!

morticia91.bsky.social•43 days ago

This could work amazingly well - at least until the next major fire when Donnie orders the National Guard to turn on the wooder and flood farm fields that are nowhere near the fire.

pukarocks.bsky.social•44 days ago

wonder what took them so long. i always wondered why they never covered it

bootlegrisks.bsky.social•44 days ago

Could help increase nesting opportunities for songbirds too. And if canals are cooled enough, aquatic insects?

wudang.com•44 days ago

That is a very good idea. Could be useful as habitat in places, too.

arfisk.bsky.social•44 days ago

India's been doing it for years.

kipwilliams.bsky.social•43 days ago

Hey! We have a canal!

rcmurphy.bsky.social•44 days ago

I've been hoping we'd do this after seeing it at work elsewhere, especially here in the Central Valley where it gets up to the surface of the sun temps.

wissewords.bsky.social•43 days ago

India does a lot of this iirc; there was an article floating around bluesky last week talking about this?

rolandguiscard.bsky.social•44 days ago

Better than that "Solar Frickin' Roadways" bullshit.

joangrey.bsky.social•44 days ago

I have been hollering about this for 4 decades now. Every time I mentioned it, I was told:

it's not necessary
it's too hard
we don't need it
it wouldn't really help

I'm glad it's happening, but why did they wait so long?

lizardbean.bsky.social•44 days ago

If I had to guess? Now they have to do something to keep up with electricity demands for generative AI.

ancientevil.bsky.social•44 days ago

Reinventing Quanats if I’m remembering correctly the name. In the covered canal/aquaduct sense.

cat-appreciator.bsky.social•44 days ago

It’s “qanat”, no “u”. :)

kensterfox.bsky.social•44 days ago

ONE POINT THIRTY-ONE (times ten to the first) JIGAWATTS?!?!?

stony3k.bsky.social•44 days ago

It's been in the works for a few years. It's a brilliant idea, free electricity but also less water evaporation

cunobaros.bsky.social•43 days ago

An evergreen idea. A given idea. One might even say it's an evergiven idea.

ailbhe.ossifrage.net•43 days ago

Örjan

sierrakim.bsky.social•43 days ago

I think it’s his birthday so we might have to let him have this one.

hugintheraven.bsky.social•44 days ago

I'm expecting to see a lot more clever combinations of eco approaches going forward. Both because it's a good selling point but also because there is genuine unexplored potential in combining tools.

thesteelwolf.bsky.social•43 days ago

We should do this over bicycle paths too

dana-what.bsky.social•44 days ago

How is this not already a thing—it’s so smart!

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