I seen documentary where they covered river with solar panels. It reduced evaporation of water by significant amount. And it did not occupy any arable land.
And big parts of India have underdeveloped electricity grid. Solar is easiest way to bring electric infrastructure there.
Only in arid regions. Specifically Thar desert of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Doesn't make any sense in other places.
> it does not snow there
Oh it does! Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh come to mind [1]. India has all seasons and all types of weather.
> big parts of India have underdeveloped electricity grid
What do you mean by an "underdeveloped" electricity grid? India recently achieved 99% electrification target. Only 31 million out of 1.3 billion people have no/non-continuous electricity. I wouldn't label it "big parts of India".
[1]: https://www.happyeasygo.com/travel-blog/travel-tips/best-pla...
That's a terrible idea, unless I am missing something.
Why not cover the vast amount of uninhabitable land in solar panels, rather then what small amount of precious resource land that exists.
But I still cannot wrap my head around this being a good idea, destroy the ecosystem of rivers, provide next to zero power (compared to resources required to build and maintain), require a HUGE investment as it's fast moving water and everyone knows fast moving water destroys material, have to deal with overflowing from rain, drought, etc.
Way too many factors for this to be a good idea.
It could probably if it was a man made canal or something with a set amount of water, but that still destroys any chance of an ecosystem.