Harvey Mudd College, Pomona College and Cal Poly Pomona | Zeroing in on Solar: Developing a strategic plan to place non-profit solar panel factories in LA County’s under served communities. | Goal 7A: Transition to a zero-carbon energy system that reduces air and climate pollution and that minimizes the dangers of a changing climate to our communities and economy.
Strategic Planning
This project seeks to place a state-of-the-art, non-profit solar panel factory in each of L.A.’s five county supervisor districts. Partnering with the Community Home Energy Revolution Project (CHERP), which established the first factory in Pomona, students have identified four additional geographic locations, using data that shows areas burdened by high energy costs and other markers of environmental injustice. Students produced a strategic plan, identifying economic, political, and community partnerships at each location. The resulting community-run facilities will have the capacity to produce their own solar panels, create solar manufacturing and installation jobs, and sell energy to anchor businesses, school districts, and the city.
Richard Haskell, Professor of Physics and Director of Harvey Mudd’s Center for Environmental Studies; Lelia Hawkins, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Hixon Professor of Climate Studies; Guillermo Douglass-Jaimes, Assistant Professor of Environmental Analysis, Pomona College; Adviser: Megan Anderson, Director of Administration and Workforce Development; CHERP Students: Jackson Castro; Brittany Pan; Amy Yuan; Kasey Chung; Shivani Manivasagan; Jackson Phillion; Pomona College: Ella Meyer; Ben Shostak; Henry Peterson; Cal Poly Pomona: Jalen Gumayagay; Natalia Moreno
Community partner: CHERP Solar Works (Community Home Energy Revolution Project)
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CATEGORY: Climate & Water
Weather comes to mind. But there’s sun, wind and air. Rain, water… the essential life currents we depend on.