SJSU Joins California Solar Canal Initiative

The CSCI project will install solar panels over water canals to reduce evaporation and generate clean energy. Photo courtesy of California Solar Canal Initiative.

San José State University has joined a research consortium of faculty from seven top California research universities to help propel a groundbreaking initiative to accelerate the deployment of solar arrays over California’s extensive canal network.

Dustin Mulvaney, professor of environmental studies, has joined the California Solar Canal Initiative (CSCI), which is part of an innovative public-private partnership tackling the problem of renewable energy by installing solar panels over water canals to reduce evaporation and generate clean energy. 

Mulvaney will be part of the environmental justice research team with CSCI. He will help evaluate how solar canals compare to conventional utility scale projects, including ecological, and environmental justice dimensions as well as community support and benefits.

“SJSU’s involvement in the project shows that our students and faculty are quickly becoming leaders in promoting the sustainability of energy and water systems to integrated sectors that are crucial to addressing climate change and human prosperity in California,” says Mulvaney, who initially wrote about solar canals as a “win-win” techno-ecological synergy in a paper in Nature Sustainability” in 2019.

The CSCI research project aims to rapidly increase the use of solar power across the state by equipping government agencies, utilities, community members and other interested parties with data on optimal locations for panels and helping to identify willing host communities.

Researchers will evaluate the potential of solar canals to address the needs of the dynamic energy market, compete with other distributed-solar projects, enhance current canal operations and maintenance procedures, navigate existing water and land regulations and provide numerous benefits to communities where projects are developed.

Spearheaded by USC Dornsife Public Exchange, CSCI combines experts from seven universities and a private company, Solar AquaGrid, to build a roadmap for deploying solar canals across the state. The initiative will provide critical insights into how to scale solar canal projects, navigate policies and regulations, assess  economic opportunities, and ensure that underserved and disadvantaged communities benefit from the projects. 

Here is the research team:

• Brian Tarroja, Comparative Economics, UCI
• Kate Forrest, Comparative Economics, UCI
• Dave Feldman, Environmental Justice, UCI Water
• Changdeok Gim, Environmental Justice, UCI Water
• Santina Contreras, Environmental Justice, USC
• Brandi McKuin, Project Scaling, UC Merced
• Roger Bales, Project Scaling, UC Merced
• David Wooley, Energy Policy, UC Berkeley
• Dave Owen, Water Policy, UCSF Law
• Robin Craig, Water Policy, University of Kansas
• Detlof von Winterfeldt, Risk Analysis, USC
• Dustin Mulvaney, Solar Equity, SJSU

Learn more about the CSCI initiative.