SA exports solar water system to US

South Australia is exporting its floating solar system to California to help the state save water during a recording-breaking drought.

More than 100 solar panels - developed by Infratech Industries - were installed in April on one of three basins at a water treatment works at Jamestown, in SA's mid-north, to power the plant and also reduce evaporation.

Now a similar system will power a new water treatment facility in Holtville City, near the Mexican border, by mid-2016.

It will also help save more than 10 million litres of drinking and irrigation water each year, Infratech says.

"We're in the desert and we lose more than five feet of water a year to evaporation while typically only receiving around three inches of rain annually," Holtville council member David Bradshaw said.

"Also, our main source of water, the Colorado River via the Hoover Dam, is currently in drought."

The floating solar system will also help reduce reliance on chemicals such as chlorine by shading the water and limiting the growth of blue-green algae.