Solar that saves water
The California Solar Canal Initiative: exploring what it would take to install solar panels over 4,000 miles of open canals—and help Californians save water, energy, and money.
USC Launched 2025
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In 2022, California started testing a new idea: installing solar panels over canals to save water and create energy. Now, we’re helping take that idea statewide.
The state has been falling short of its clean energy goals—adding just 1 gigawatt of new solar power to the grid each year instead of its target, 6 GW. Meanwhile, fresh water supplies are shrinking. The ongoing pilot is showing promise, but putting solar panels over a short stretch of canals is one thing. Expanding across 4,000 miles of state canals is another.
We’re honored to help figure out where solar canals will do the most good and what it will take to make it happen. Our work is helping the state plan effectively and focus on where these panels will have the biggest impact—powering homes, watering crops, and taking advantage of existing canals, so we can conserve land for farms, housing, and anything else the future holds.
Meet the project team
Doug Messer
Senior Project Manager
Research Team
Roger Bales
Scaling Analysis
Distinguished Professor of Engineering
UC Merced
Robin Craig
Environmental Policy Analysis
Robert A. Schroeder Distinguished Professor of Law
The University of Kansas
Santina Contreras
Community Benefit Analysis
Assistant Professor, Urban Planning
USC Price School of Public Policy
Dave Feldman
Community Benefit Analysis
Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy and Political Science
UC Irvine
Kate Forrest
Comparative Economic Analysis
Senior Scientist, Advanced Power & Energy
UC Irvine
Changdeok Gim
Community Benefit Analysis
Associate Director, Water UCI
UC Irvine
Brandi McKuin
Scaling Analysis
Project Scientist, Project Nexus
UC Merced
Dustin Mulvaney
Comparative Economic Analysis
Professor of Environmental Studies
San Jose State University
Dave Owen
Environmental Policy Analysis
Professor of Law
UC Law San Francisco
Brian Tarroja
Community Benefit Analysis
Research Engineer and Lecturer, Energy Systems Integration
UC Irvine
Detlof von Winterfeldt
Decision-making Analysis
Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering and Policy, Planning, and Development
USC Price School of Public Policy
David Wooley
Energy Policy Analysis
Executive Director and Lecturer, Center for Environmental Public Policy (CEPP)
UC Berkeley
Partners
Jordan Harris
Solar AquaGrid
Robin Raj
Solar AquaGrid
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