Tucson Village Farm (TVF) is a working urban farm built by and for the youth of our community. A program of the Pima County Cooperative Extension and the University of Arizona, TVF is a seed-to-table program designed to reconnect young people to a healthy food system, teach them how to grow and prepare fresh food, and empower them to make healthy life choices.
The Solar-Powered Tucson Village Farm project will install a 25.80-kilowatt rooftop solar energy system to run their commercial kitchen. Technicians for Sustainability, a Tucson-based, employee-owned company will install the solar panels. They analyzed TVF’s annual electricity use and roof structure and were able to determine that the most efficient way to integrate solar would be to utilize the rooftop of the newly built, 1600-square foot steel shade structure on the north patio of the Culinary Education Center. This location would accommodate a system that could supply up to 74% of their building’s annual energy needs, an estimated production of ~42,500 kilowatt hours of power and will save them over $6,000 a year in electricity fees owed to Tucson Electric Power company. This will offset 90,348 pounds of CO2 emissions and save 21,348 gallons of water annually.
In addition to the solar panels, TVF will also integrate education on solar and renewable energy into their existing programs. This effort will be led by one of their staff members to allow visitors of all ages to learn about the relationship between healthy food, communities, and energy sources.
