The University of Toledo celebrated Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the completion of an expanded solar array near the University of Toledo Medical Center.
The ceremony began at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the parking area adjacent to Main Technology Drive, where the array now more than doubles the university’s solar energy production capacity on the Health Science Campus.
University leaders said the project is both an economic and environmental win, and a hands-on educational asset for science and engineering students studying commercial-scale renewable energy systems.
The work was advanced by the university’s Student Green Fund, Michael Green, UToledo’s director of energy sustainability and energy efficiency, and partners at First Solar, alongside research from the Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization.
Dr. Michael Heben, a Distinguished University Professor and director of the Wright Center, called the project a real-world demonstration of advances in solar technology and the region’s growing role in photovoltaic research.
“This project is an exciting, real-world demonstration of the importance of the groundbreaking advances being made at First Solar and the strong connection to our work at the Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization,” Heben said.
Dr. Randy Ellingson, a Distinguished University Professor and Wright Center endowed professor, also contributed to the effort, giving students experience with commercial-scale systems they will encounter in their careers.