UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Six Penn State students recently won a first-place award in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Solar District Cup division, the second consecutive first-place division win for the University. The national collegiate competition challenges multidisciplinary student teams to design and model distributed energy systems for a campus or district, learning the industry-relevant skills to become leaders in clean energy. There were 81 teams participating in the competition.
The Penn State team, “Sunny Valley,” which included Michael Gurnee, Vaughn Kutish, Jaclyn Rawa, Maria Amalia Abreu, Kurt Phillips and Sophia Warnock, won their division focused on the “University of Oregon District Use Case.” Sunny Valley then competed in the final pitch championship, with Drexel University emerging as the overall champion.
Nelson Dzade, assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering and chair of the undergraduate energy engineering program in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME), was the team adviser, and Sahil Inaganti, an industry expert from Nexamp, was the team's mentor.
“I am super proud of how the team impressed the judges with their novel analysis and equity considerations,” said Dzade. “I applaud the team for their hard work, dedication, and commitment throughout the competition, which connected their coursework to real-world issues, fostered a deeper understanding of the solar industry and prepared them for future energy careers and leadership roles.”
The team designed 16 rooftop solar arrays featuring more than 2,500 high-efficiency solar panels and one canopy shade structure to offset the grid-consumed energy from 30 campus buildings. The design also included a 1,500 kWh EV-bus charging battery to power the campus EV bus charging system. The proposal would offset 11.25% of the campus’s energy consumption with total energy savings of approximately $11.3 million over 25 years.
In particular, the plan encompassed several historically registered buildings requiring specific considerations.
“Working on the project's development team helped me learn more about the complex regulatory landscapes, including diverse building codes, electrical codes, local laws and permits that must be navigated for a successful solar project,” said Rawa, a senior majoring in environmental systems engineering and the team co-captain.
The team ensured the plan included the surrounding community and proposed exhibits and outreach, including leveraging tours as a potential educational opportunity for local high school students.
Abreu, a senior energy engineering student on the development team, learned the lesson on community engagement from an eighth-grade project that had her designing floating solar panels in Lake Enriquillo, the Dominican Republic’s largest lake.
“Community engagement is important because it’s not just about generating energy, but how the surrounding communities can benefit from it,” said Abreu. “I remembered how appreciative the Lake Enriquillo community members were, and I wanted to ensure our plan did the same for the Oregon communities. It meant a lot to me when the judges acknowledged how we paid respect to the Kalapuya community, the local Indigenous community.”
The solar cup experience opened her eyes to new career options, she said, like her middle school project did years ago. At that time, Abreu said, she always pictured herself as a mechanical or aerospace engineer, but her focus shifted to energy engineering after seeing the positive communal impact of sustainable energy firsthand.
“I don't think I'll do a Ph.D. — I just don't think I can spend that many years in the lab,” said Abreu. “However, I can see myself pursuing a master’s degree in climate policy or project management because I like talking to clients and reviewing all the codes and compliances.”
The team’s proposal also included a financial analysis that required adding all the costs directly associated with the project construction and sifting through federal incentives and associated tax rates.
“Going in, I expected to learn about the science behind photovoltaics and their design, but I didn’t realize I would also learn about the development and financial aspects, too,” said Warnock, senior energy engineering student on the financial analysis team. “It’s nice to understand how it all works together and realize there are many career directions I can go within the energy industry besides just designing the panels. After this, I feel more well-rounded and prepared for whatever direction I choose.”
The competition was an educational experience for the team, and they now have the opportunity to showcase their design at the RE+ annual national conference, North America's largest clean energy event.
“The Solar District Cup is by far the most engaging and rewarding project I’ve ever worked on,” said Gurnee, a senior energy engineering student and the team captain. “It broke the mold of group projects and made it feel like I was doing real-life work.”
The Solar District Cup is directed and administered by the DOE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and is funded by the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office.