Solar Panels on Narmada River
Irrigation in the northwest state of Gujarat in India is getting a powerful upgrade – a solar power upgrade. The Narmada canals are the main irrigation line for farms in the northern regions of Gujarat and southern tip of Rajasthan. The new project will put a 1 megawatt solar power grid over the canal. This first stretch of a proposed 600 megawatt solar panel project to span portions of the 19 kilometers of the canal system is situated near the Chandrasan village of Kadi taluka in Mehsana district. The project isn’t just a great way to place solar power in an otherwise unusable area instead of taking up valuable land acreage, it also performs a second, even more earth friendly task. By spanning the canal and absorbing the solar radiation that would normally hit the waters in the canal, the solar panel array will help prevent over 900,000 liters of evaporation from the canal yearly. This is just for the proposed 750 meter installation. The project will also cost far less than a traditional solar station because the state already owns the land that it will be using and will not have to spend any funds to acquire more. The infrastructure for the solar panels will also be cheaper because the walls of the canal can be used to support the paneling. This is just the first step in a large-scale project envisioned by the State Electricity Corporation (GSECL) with support from Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL). The goal is to utilize 10 percent of the 1,900 km canal network for similar solar panel projects. Based on government estimates, this will save upwards of 11,000 acres from use as solar stations while delivering up to 2,200 megawatts of solar power every year. Even more impressive is the potential to save over 200 billion liters of water from evaporating during the year as well. It is important to note that these numbers are based on a system of only 1,900 km of solar panels. Future plans for Gujarat include expanding the current 19,000 km canal system to