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About


UW Solar is a Vertically Integrated Project and Registered Student Organization that is part of the Urban Infrastructure Lab at the University of Washington. We participate in the planning, design, and development of solar and related electrification (e.g., electric vehicles, charging, energy storage) projects and information systems on campus, and advise public organizations off-campus (e.g., other colleges, schools, and large public organizations) in this subject matter. Students from various disciplines and class standings (Freshman to PhD) work together on a diverse set of projects spanning (but not limited to) engineering, architecture, construction management, public policy and administration, business and urban planning. Below is a list of services we provide in Project Development and Advising.

Project Development

  • Site Evaluations and Shading Analysis
  • Photovoltaic (PV) System Preliminary Design
  • Cost Estimation and Financial Modeling of Solar Arrays
  • Creating and reviewing policy documents with sections for Industry Trends, Federal Regulations, State Law, City Code and UW Policy
  • Procurement of Funding
  • Request for Proposal (RFP) Drafting
  • Contractor Selection
  • Reviewing of Installation and Comissioning

Research & Advising

  • Research and Evaluation of Photovoltaic (PV) and Electrical Vehicle (EV) Technologies
  • Compile Databases of Available Technologies
  • Financial Modeling for implementation of PV/EV Technologies
  • Decision Making Models
  • Strategic and Spatial Planning

UW Solar is also offered as a 1-2 credit course in the College of Engineering (ENGR 297/497) and in the Department of Urban Design and Planning of the College of Built Environments (URBDP 498/598). If you decide to take UW Solar for credit, you must take any of the courses listed for two consecutive quarters. Add codes are available at meetings.

UW Solar is an active participant in the UW Sustainability Action Plan, and a proud recipient of the Husky Green Award.

Meeting Details


Who: Students of all majors and every class standing. No experience or application is necessary.
Where: Meetings are being held in person in Gould Hall room 012C. In the case that in-person meetings are cancelled, meetings will be held online via Zoom (meeting link).
When: We currently meet every week on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 - 7:00 pm.

Contact


If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at janwhit@uw.edu