- The solar cells mounted on the canal top are cooler than their land-based counterparts. This resulted in the cells with an average temperature which was cooler by 10 per cent. Due to this, the energy generated by the plant was significantly higher than a groundmounted solar PV plant.
- In Gujarat alone, there exists a canal network of 80,000 km. As per GSECL’s (Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited) estimate, even if 30 per cent of this canal network is used for solar PV plant installation, it can generate up to 18,000 MW of power which will also save 90,000 acres of land.
- Many other canal top plants have been set up in India itself—a 10 MW plant has been replicated in the city of Vadodara in Gujarat (Picture 2), a 1 MW plant has been set up in Karnataka, and a canal top plant has also been added in Andhra Pradesh.