Global Academy of Phoenix

AgriPV (also known as agrivoltaics) is a new area of study that couples agriculture with photovoltaics (solar panels) to increase food production and generate renewable energy. In 2019, GAP began working with a team of faculty and students at Arizona State University to bring energy-related learning experiences to our students. Mayra Ramos (8th Grade), Diane Hernandez (7th Grade), and Amy McBeth (6th Grade) worked with Dr. Michelle Jordan from the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, developing project-based learning experiences for middle grade students. GAP teachers and ASU faculty supported students as they designed community purposes for their gardens, made decisions about what crops to grow, and used the engineering design process to improve their garden and make a positive impact in their community. IB students utilized the IB Learner Profile Attribute of being inquirers as their curious minds researched the unknowns about technology-enhanced gardening. Students were required to be independent investigators and engineers with skills to find reliable answers to the questions they initially generated and solutions to the problems they identified.

Through hands-on inquiry in agriPV, GAP students will not only learn about engineering, energy systems and agriculture, they also… 

• Contribute to the science of engineering through citizen science. Using the data acquisition device built by their teacher, students will collect and analyze data to compare conditions in their school garden with and without solar panels. 
• Contribute to their community through energy engineering. Students must decide how to design their agrivoltaics garden to help their community.  

This past summer, these three committed teachers were joined by their colleague, Ruth Anderson (4th Grade) for an intensive summer research experience program with the QESST Solar Energy Engineering Research Center. The GAP teachers worked with Dr. Stuart Bowden on engineering research in agrivoltaics. The teachers built, programmed, and tested a device that collects data about environmental conditions in school gardens: temperature, humidity, illumination, and soil moisture. During the school year, students will use these teacher-made devices to collect and analyze data in the garden. These hands-on citizen science activities allow students of diverse interests and backgrounds to contribute to PV projects that promote a sustainable energy future. The goal is for the power to be used with the garden system (ie irrigation, timer, probes to measure moisture, pH, etc.) to allow Citizen Science participation. Creating a solar shade structure over our school garden space will allow students to engage in inquiry-based learning, conducting scientific experiments in agrivoltaics, and engineering prototypes for their school garden.   

Thank you to the engineers and installers at Sun Valley Solar who have generously donated their expertise, time, and materials to complete the electrical aspects of the off-grid project.

Click here to learn more about our world-class project. 

To support this project through additional funds, materials, or volunteer hours, please contact Principal Alfonso Landey at alfonsolandey@alhambraesd.org.