Arizona Clean Energy Workforce Development Program
This project is focused on accomplishing two essential tasks for the Arizona community: providing essential job skills to students from disadvantaged communities and contributing to the clean energy revolution taking place globally. By partnering with Title I school districts, public and private partners and industry professional certification programs, this project will provide students with job skills in a variety of clean energy sector pathways.
For Arizona to start to realize its potential as a clean energy leader, the community needs to make smart investments in its most vulnerable populations. This project seeks to do that by designing and implementing a highly cost effective vocational training program that leverages industry, community colleges, and certification programs to develop high quality clean energy professionals, without the high price tag associated with the conventional career development route. The project will focus on creating workforce development training in the following areas:
- Energy Management
- Building Science
- Distributed Energy Resources Installation and Maintenance
- Adaptive Design for Resilience
Female Veterans Housing Solar Installation
This project will involve the cross-sector collaboration and partnership between the Arizona Sustainability Alliance, Habitat for Humanity, and the U.S. Veterans Initiative for the installation of solar panels to two brand new homes which will support female veterans with a safe and sober living environment where they will receive treatment for military sexual trauma and substance abuse, as well as work re-entry counseling and assistance in receiving disability payments. In addition to the solar panels, we will be contributing efforts to beautify the outside of the two homes by adding “greenspaces” along the patios and sidewalks.
Renewable Energy Recreation
Renewable Energy Recreation is a long-term program for AZSA. Projects will include educational recreation areas that are powered by renewable energy. The public will experience energy in a way they have never before. Our goal is for every person to leave a playground, such as Solar Swings, having gained knowledge on why it is beneficial to use renewable energy and excited to do so at home.
Maya’s Farm Solar Installation (Winter 2021)
Maya Farms is a sustainable farm off the grid looking to power a walk-in refrigerator, air conditioning, washing machine and electricity for an office in their shipping container. AZSA is providing the resources to design and install solar panels and a battery storage system at the farm. This project will allow for the opportunity to research growing food underneath solar panels (agrivoltaics).
Maya’s Farm Documentary: Sustainable Agriculture and Renewable Energy
This documentary will delve into the challenges of being a sustainable urban farmer in Arizona, highlighting the often neglected role of a farm’s energy source. Through interviews with Maya Dailey of Maya’s Farm and key urban farmers around Arizona, this documentary seeks to illuminate the importance of supporting our local food system.
Agrivoltaics
This project will be done in partnership with Arizona State University and Maya’s Farm in Phoenix, AZ. According to (Hoen 2011; Dinesh & Pearce 2016; & Barron-Gafford et al. 2019; Dupraz et al. 2010), growing food under photovoltaic installations (agrivoltaics) can save farmers valuable financial resources and increase land value, protecting their livelihoods, and reduce energy and water use, protecting valuable natural resources necessary to sustain and grow farming operations, while maintaining and improving crop health. This innovative, collaborative research program will build upon existing research and provide valuable data and insights of the benefits of agrivoltaic installations for farmers and researchers. This research, unlike previous studies, will focus on the benefits of agrivoltaic installations on organic farms, specifically urban organic farms. Building upon Barron-Gafford et al. (2019), this research will investigate how agrivoltaics affects soil moisture, health, and biology on urban organic farms.
