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Arizona State University will install 3.3 MW of solar PV panels on its West campus in Phoenix, part of the second phase of the school's overall solarization project. Construction on the system is expected to begin this summer and be completed in December.

Three companies are providing the solar power systems and infrastructure for the overall ASU project: Independent Energy Group, APS Energy Services (who is doing the installation on the West campus), and Carbon Free Technology.

The project primarily will use open space on the West campus, with some of the panels covering--and providing extra shade to--existing parking areas. The installation will meet nearly all of the West campus's energy needs, said David Brixen, ASU interim VP of university services.

"We are currently contemplating up to 7 MW total for the West campus," Brixen said. "But if we went to that scale, we would need to secure more areas."

The West campus solar array is part of an overall effort by ASU to transition to renewable energy systems. Already, the main Tempe campus has about 2 MW of deployed PV modules, the first part of which were installed and activated on top of a parking structure in 2004.

When the second phase of this project is completed, the school will have installed more than 10 MW of solar on all four of its campuses, making it the largest combined PV system on any university in the United States, according to Brixen.