The need for clean water and the desire for cheap electricity are becoming intertwined in the face of AI data centers and the harm they cause. Many people claim solar power is a potential solution for our clean energy needs, but can it help provide clean water? When placed near a water supply, it can.
The Turlock Irrigation District (TID) Water & Power company recently published the results of a pilot project dubbed Project Nexus, a proof-of-concept study meant to determine the benefits of covering water canals with solar panels. Some of the advantages are fairly obvious, such as generating renewable energy — but the project also determined how much water the solar cells could preserve by preventing evaporation, and it measured whether the panels improved water quality.
Project Nexus began in 2022 as a collaboration between TID Water & Power, the California Department of Water Resources, Solar AquaGrid, and the University of California, with the installation completed and commissioned in 2025. While panels only cover tiny stretches of canal at different widths, researchers believe that if they covered all 4,000 miles of California canals, the project could save 63 billion gallons of water each year — enough to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or provide clean water for 2 million residents. And that’s on top of an estimated power surplus of 13 gigawatts of electricity, which is more than half the solar energy officials want by 2030. Oh, and the panels could reduce the growth of aquatic weeds that gum up the canal.
Project Nexus is only the latest installation to demonstrate how large solar farms can potentially benefit the landscape. China’s largest solar farm is changing the surrounding desert into slightly more verdant greenlands, and solar panel installations are serving as unexpected safe havens for endangered species such as the San Joaquin kit fox. Project Nexus may look promising, but it is far from a safe bet.
While the team involved predicted that solar canopies could generate gigawatts of juice and conserve billions of gallons of water, that’s all it is right now: a prediction. Engineers won’t know exactly how much energy Project Nexus can produce until the solar panels cover every square inch of the canals. And according to a prominent member of the Project Nexus team, Professor Roger Bales, the technology involved is ready and waiting for application. Admittedly, science is based on repetition, but Project Nexus is hardly the first solar canal on the planet. In 2024, the Gila River Indian Community turned on its own solar canal and ended up generating more electricity than predicted. The science is all there; the only question is whether anyone is willing to foot the bill for such an undertaking.
As of writing, Project Nexus’ lead researcher, Dr. Brandi McKuin, stated that more research is needed to determine if giving California’s canals a continuous solar panel umbrella is even economically viable. Furthermore, the California Department of Water Resources is also watching Project Nexus with bated breath. Subsequent findings could mean the difference between turning the majority (or all) of California’s canals into solar farms and only converting a small portion of the land — if any. Basically, researchers need a solid pitch.

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