US (CA): UC Riverside's greenhouse starts trial with pink solar roof
The greenhouse will serve as a laboratory to probe the solar energy production, plant growth and costs of growing food in such systems, said Jeff Kaplan, a UCR associate vice chancellor.
"We see this as a strategy to use land for solar energy while simultaneously using it for agriculture," said Kaplan, who oversees UCR's sustainability programs.
The solar panels at UCR will charge a battery in the 800-square-foot greenhouse. The goal is for the system to make and store all the electricity the building needs without a connection to the campus electricity network. The construction budget is $174,000 with about $15,000 of that going for the panels, added Scott Donnell, a UCR project manager.
The university expects the greenhouse to be constructed in about two months, Donnell said. The researchers have yet to be named.
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