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Article by Mikayla Mace Kelley, University Communications, 2021. Photo by Kevin Choi, Office of Sustainability, 2021.
Construction of a rooftop garden and solar panels atop the University of Arizona's Environment and Natural Resources 2, or ENR2, building is complete, and the research phase of the ENR2 Rooftop PV+ Project can now begin.
The method of growing crops under solar panels to increase the efficiency of both is called agrivoltaics – a semantic mashup of "agriculture" and "photovoltaics." When any other kind of plant is used, such as native species instead of crops, the system is called photovoltaic-plus, or PV+.
ENR2 is already a LEED Platinum-certified building, the highest rating in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating program. The Rooftop PV+ Project is a way to demonstrate sustainability in the desert while also providing unique research and learning opportunities for the UArizona community.