2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Sonoran Photovoltaics Laboratory (hereafter SPV Lab) organizes a regional approach to pursuing photovoltaic (PV) engineering research for 4th-12th grade STEM teachers and students in the Sonoran Desert region of the US. Using community-centered engineering and citizen science strategies, teachers lead their students in conducting research on agrivoltaics (agri-PV); coupling the generation of sustainable solar power with growing food crops. Each school-based SPV Lab research site hosts at least one experimental and one control garden bed. Students make decisions about what crops to plant, how to care for their growing plants, the design of PV racking systems, and how to use the power they generate to benefit their community, all supported by their teacher and an interdisciplinary team of university researchers and industry partners. They collect, analyze, and share data with researchers and students at other schools to contribute to this new area of engineering research (e.g monitoring solar irradiance, temperature, solar moisture, panel efficiency). In this session, we share materials, resources, and lessons that support student engagement in PV engineering citizen science. Materials were co-created and pilot-tested by our team members (teachers, students, and university members). The aim of the project is to provide opportunities for students to take leadership positions that support their consequential learning and rightful presence in engineering through their participation in real work with real consequences: helping to create scientific knowledge in this new area of engineering innovation (agrivoltaics), while demonstrating the social value of improving PV performance for their local neighborhoods and region.