DeJong estimates that mounting solar panels over the canal is 33–40% more expensive than doing so on land, but he argues that the economic and social benefits of water, energy, and land conservation and gains from higher solar panel efficiency will partially or fully offset the. . DeJong estimates that mounting solar panels over the canal is 33–40% more expensive than doing so on land, but he argues that the economic and social benefits of water, energy, and land conservation and gains from higher solar panel efficiency will partially or fully offset the. . Building new solar photovoltaic farms in the US has become cost-competitive with new fossil-fuel projects, but coating the landscape in solar panels can get expensive on in-demand land, especially near population areas and farmland. Finding ways to repurpose existing infrastructure, like parking. . California Project Nexus: Project Nexus is a state pilot studying energy, water savings, and operations on Turlock Irrigation District canals. University teams from UC Merced and others are collecting data. This work has grown to include cost models for solar-plus-storage systems. NLR's PV cost benchmarking work uses a bottom-up. . The U. Interior Department will install solar panels above irrigation canals in California, Oregon and Utah, aided by $19 million from a congressional spending bill. Planned projects include a $15 million pilot with the University of California, Merced to deploy up to three floating solar. . Those plans have resulted in the soon-to-be-commissioned Casa Blanca installation — a 1.