The ‘Solar Canals’ Making Smart Use Of India’s Space
Ram Tumuluri “The Canal Solar Power Project is a project initiated in Gujarat, India to use the state-wide 19,000 km (12,000 mi) long Narmada channel network to set up solar panels to produce electricity. In 2012, the canal-top solar panels were installed in India’s sunniest state, and now offer hope for a country that is three times as heavily populated as China, at a time when India is aiming for nearly a nine-fold increase in solar capacity between 2017 and 2022 to meet global climate-change obligations and reduce its dependence on coal-fired power plants. In this article, our team takes a look at how the solar canals in India are making smart use of India’s space.”
In this article
The Canal Solar Power Project
Key challenges in building solar farms
The Canal Solar Power Project
India has traditionally relied on coal-fired power plants. India’s combination of abundant sunshine – about 300 sunny days a year – and a large population hungry for energy makes it an ideal location for solar power. At the end of the first quarter of 2020, the country’s solar capacity surpassed 36.6GW, with the goal of rising to 100GW by 2022. The canal-top concept was first proposed by Gujarat’s then chief minister, Narendra Modi, at a 2011 Vibrant Gujarat Summit. The objective was to use the area above the canals to save the cost, time and inconvenience associated with the acquisition of land to the government.
Key Challenges in Building Solar Farms
Space seems to be one of the critical issues surrounding solar installations in India. Land in India is relatively expensive and often has multiple owners, therefore land purchase involves a lot of formalities. The high population density of India also puts pressure on the region, with an average of 464 people per square kilometre. In Gujarat, the answer was to cover its canals with solar panels, as a solution that saves land, water and carbon emissions in one.
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