Learning Goals
Students will be able to investigate NYC school energy use and rooftop solar potential using bill data, roof maps, and tax-credit timelines to define an evidence-based solar adoption problem.
Students will be able to model how sunlight becomes usable electricity by explaining the roles of the PV panel, inverter, and transformer in a solar system.
Students will be able to compare buying, financing, and leasing through a PPA for an NYC school solar project and justify a recommendation using cost-benefit evidence and safe-harbor timing.
Products
NYC School Solar User Research Brief and Concept Prototype
Each student produces a research brief grounded in firsthand interviews, bill analysis, and rooftop/timeline evidence, then translates those findings into a low-fidelity concept prototype for a school solar recommendation. The prototype must show how user needs and constraints shaped the idea.
NYC School Solar Recommendation Pitch Deck and Higher-Fidelity Prototype
Teams combine individual research and concept prototypes into a shared problem statement, a higher-fidelity solar solution, and a stakeholder-ready pitch for an NYC school audience. The package must clearly trace design choices to user evidence, technical understanding, and policy/financing tradeoffs.
No rubric has been generated yet.