We have seen that in Japan, farmers cover some of their crops with solar panels. India covers its rivers with them. The State of Gujarat is thinking of covering its 19,000 kilometers of canals with solar panels.
The Hindu Business Line reports :
The Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, will inaugurate the first of a series of this project, known as Canal Solar Power Project, when he launches a 1 megawatt (mw) pilot project, which is already commissioned, on Narmada branch canal near Chandrasan village of Kadi taluka in Mehsana district on Tuesday.
Last week, he inaugurated a 600-MW solar power project spread across 11 districts. This included a 214MW Solar Power Park, the largest such generation centre at a single location in Asia. Also, Azure Power, leading independent power producer in solar sector, announced a 2.5 MW rooftops project in Gandhinagar.
Gujarat, which invests nearly Rs. 2,000 crore an year on renewable energy, has attracted investments of Rs.9,000 crore so far on solar energy projects.
The pilot project has been developed on a 750-m stretch of the canal by Gujarat State Electricity Corporation (GSECL) with support from Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL), which owns and maintains the canal network.
once developers of simpler and more effective technologies find a lucrative market in the most neglected countries, there will be a mad race to compete in the ‘developed’ countries.
there are so many thousands of miles of irrigation canals all through the western US.which could have been equipped with energy saving solar panels.
In the western hemisphere there is a tendency to plan large/costly projects and to ignore economic and ecologic problem solving.
man’s impulse to constantly escalate, build and improve has become a barrier to efficiency. it robs initiatives to local solution.