California is now home to its first-ever solar-covered canal, an initiative started by researchers at UC Merced that aims to generate clean energy and conserve water.
The big picture: The project, known as Project Nexus, was inspired by a 2021 UC Merced study that found covering all 4,000 miles of California’s exposed canals with solar panels could generate about 13 gigawatts of electricity annually—enough to supply roughly 2 million homes.

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