roofs aren't as good at preventing evaporation as pipes, so if that is the point why roof it?
Theres a very narrow balance where canals covered in solar panels make sense.
It needs to have enough evaporation that its a problem, but not enough where it justifies piping it.
That's a very narrow market, and so unlikely to be scalable or prevalent.
Personally i don't think this makes much sense, it's not like there is no room to place solar panels, and the added costs of putting it over water makes it not as efficient. I suppose the main benefit is easy access to water for cleaning (which can then be dumped back into the canal).
Theres a very narrow balance where canals covered in solar panels make sense.
It needs to have enough evaporation that its a problem, but not enough where it justifies piping it.
That's a very narrow market, and so unlikely to be scalable or prevalent.
Personally i don't think this makes much sense, it's not like there is no room to place solar panels, and the added costs of putting it over water makes it not as efficient. I suppose the main benefit is easy access to water for cleaning (which can then be dumped back into the canal).