Arizona State University (ASU) is one of America’s leading institutes delving into solar energy research and innovation – and the University has now also exceeded 10 megawatts (MW) of on-campus solar power generation.
ASU says it can now lay claim to having the largest solar installation at a single university in the entire United States, with 40,000 solar panels installed on buildings across two campuses.
The 10MW capacity goal was reached following completion of a 700-panel, 168-kilowatt (kW), ground-mounted photovoltaic installation on ASU’s Tempe campus – already home to 13 rooftop solar power systems, including two large carpark PV systems featuring sun-tracking technology.
In February this year, the University’s West campus went live with two massive PV projects: a 2.7MW array fixed system consisting of 9,828 solar panels, covering three campus parking lots; and 2.0 MW system mounted on the ground.
“Surpassing 10 megawatts of solar energy capacity is a tremendous accomplishment for ASU and our partners,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “Over the years we have made several major commitments to sustainability, such as establishing the first school devoted to sustainability, raising awareness of how to live sustainable lives and finding ways to harness natural resources, like our abundance of sunshine.”
The collective output of the solar power systems each year will cover roughly 20 percent of ASU’s peak energy needs, and reduces its carbon footprint between 5 to 10 percent. But with Arizona receiving an average of 300 sunny days each year, the University-wide goal is to install more solar panels on its two remaining campuses in order to reach a total of 20MW capacity by 2014.
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