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今天看到一条新闻《水渠上的太阳能电池板可以为加州提供13GW的电力》，对这个应用场景进行了更为细致的说明。

Solar panels on water canals could generate 13GW of power for California

The little known Turlock Irrigation District (TID) in California has taken a bold and ambitious step to put solar panels on its open water canals, the first such project in the U.S. Encouraged by a $20 million grant from the state, TID has announced Project Nexus that will trial the concept on two canal segments, to begin with. 

The project is the on-ground realization of a study conducted by researchers at the University of California Merced and University of California Santa Cruz. Published last year, the study used simulations to calculate that California’s open canal system could save 63 billion gallons of water every year if it put a lid on top of its canals.

该项目是由加州大学默塞德分校和加州大学圣克鲁兹分校的研究人员进行的一项研究的实地实现。去年发表的这项研究通过模拟计算得出，如果加州的开放运河系统在运河顶部加一个盖子，每年可以节约630亿加仑的水（约2.3亿立方米）。

Estimated benefits 

The researchers had suggested putting solar panels would help the canals become a hub of renewable energy as they could potentially produce 13 gigawatts of electricity. This is about a sixth of the energy that the state of California generates, TID said in its press release. 

The solar panels could be installed on top of the canals using suspension cables and the cooling effect of the water running below would also maintain the efficiency of the panels that are known to drop output on very hot days.

研究人员曾建议，安装太阳能电池板将有助于运河成为可再生能源中心，因为它们可能产生130亿瓦的电力。TID在其新闻稿中说，这大约是加州所产生能量的六分之一。太阳能电池板可以通过悬挂电缆安装在运河的顶部，而在运河下面流动的水的冷却效果也会保持电池板的效率，众所周知，在非常炎热的天气，电池板的输出会下降。

The 63 billion gallons of water saved could be used to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or supply drinking water to as many as two million people. Although this might look like a small drop against the nine million acres that are used as farmlands in the state, given the severe drought it has faced in the recent past, this would still be welcome.

节约的630亿加仑的水可用于灌溉5万英亩农田或为多达200万人提供饮用水。尽管与该州900万英亩的农田相比，这可能只是一个小数目，但考虑到该州最近遭遇的严重干旱，这仍将是受欢迎的。

Journey of a thousand miles

To test out the hypothesis, TID has been given a small purse of $20 million for a proof-of-concept. It has brought onboard the researchers from the University of California, the Department of Water Resources to oversee the administration of the project, and SolarAquaGrid, a private firm as developers for Project Nexus.

The project will be trialed at two canal segments, one on the Main Canal and one along Ceres Main Canal, a local media outlet confirmed. Energy storage facilities are also planned to determine their utility in supporting the local grid when power generation is suboptimal.

The project is expected to be complete by 2024 after which the decision to expand it further in the state will be determined. TID Board President Michael Frantz said, “In our 135-year history, we’ve always pursued innovative projects that benefit TID water and power customers. As the first public irrigation district in California, we aren’t afraid to chart a new path with pilot projects that have the potential to meet our water and energy sustainability goals.” 

为了验证这一假设，TID获得了一笔2000万美元的小额资金用于概念验证。它已经召集了来自加州大学的研究人员，水资源部来监督项目的管理，以及SolarAquaGrid(一家私人公司，作为项目Nexus的开发商)。当地媒体证实，该项目将在两个运河段进行试验，一个在主运河上，另一个沿着Ceres主运河。蓄能设施也计划确定其效用，以支持当地电网时，发电是次优。该项目预计将于2024年完成，之后将决定在该州进一步扩建该项目。TID董事会主席Michael Frantz说:“在我们135年的历史中，我们一直追求创新的项目，使水和电力客户受益。作为加州第一个公共灌区，我们不怕开辟一条新的道路，试点项目有潜力实现我们的水和能源可持续发展目标。

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