Solar-powered EV chargers power up college campus thanks to student engineers
Imagine charging your EV while on campus entirely by the sun? An engineering class project at Hope College resulted in fully functional solar-powered EV chargers for students. It will also have a lasting impact on the college as the energy is used elsewhere on campus when a vehicle is not plugged in.
Solar-powered EV chargers developed on college campus
Students in Hope’s introductory engineering course developed a way of harnessing energy from the sun to power up electric vehicles on campus.
The applied-learning class project resulted in four new solar-powered EV chargers on the college campus. After they were installed earlier this summer, the new chargers went live this month.
According to the college, Hope students can purchase a special parking tag to gain unlimited access to the chargers for the entire school year.
The new system will benefit not only students who drive EVs but everyone on campus. When a vehicle is not plugged in, the system will funnel energy into the grid to use elsewhere.
If students aren’t charging their cars, the energy the system generates will be used elsewhere on campus. Hope’s director for the Office of Sustainability, Michelle Seppala Gibbs, explained, “It’s tied to the grid, so it will all go right into the building.”
Although these are not the first EV chargers on campus, they are the first solar-powered ones installed at the college.
The new solar-powered EV chargers will join two other solar-energy collection systems on campus. One is used to recharge battery-powered golf carts and other equipment, while the other powers a “green cottage,” a college-owned house. Both were developed in prior engineering courses.
Students worked in about 20 small groups, developing concepts while weighing potential benefits. After sharing proposals, students picked their favorites and narrowed them down to make a final choice.
All factors were considered for the project. Especially when it came to placement. After one student suggested cutting a tree down, Gibbs explained, “Well, we put a lot of research into our trees, too — they also provide a lot of benefit.”
Although the location is a few blocks from the center of campus, it was the ideal spot with a large south-facing peaked roof on a three-floor building.
The funds to buy and install the solar panels and chargers were donated by Hope alumni Dr. Anne Deckard and Dr. Richard Hiskes for student-focused sustainability efforts.
Electrek’s Take
Where were the solar-powered EV chargers when I was in college? The class project is not only a fun, hands-on way to learn but also benefits everyone on campus. Students with electric vehicles get to charge while the extra energy is used elsewhere on campus, cutting costs for all involved.
Meanwhile, with students developing fully functioning solar-powered EV chargers in college now, expect to see charging tech continue to progress as adoption climbs.
EV adoption is expected to continue rising, and charging infrastructure will be key to a seamless transition. With a focus on it in college now, students are getting on the trend.
Source: Hope College
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Germany’s largest offshore wind farm under construction, EnBW’s He Dreiht, just hit a big milestone: The first enormous turbine is now up in the North Sea.
He Dreiht – which means “it spins” in Low German – is using Vestas’s massive 15 megawatt (MW) turbines, the first project in the world to install them. Just one spin of one of the rotors can generate enough electricity to power four households for an entire day.
When it’s finished, He Dreiht will have 64 mega turbines cranking out 960 megawatts (MW) of clean power – enough to supply around 1.1 million homes. And it’s being built without any government subsidies.
EnBW, one of Germany’s major energy companies, has been working in offshore wind for more than 15 years, but He Dreiht is their biggest project yet. “It will play a key role in helping us to significantly grow our renewable energy output from 6.6 GW to over 10 GW by 2030,” said Michael Class, who heads up EnBW’s generation portfolio development.
The project is a win for Vestas, too. “With the installation of the first V236-15.0 MW, we have reached an important milestone for both the He Dreiht project and our offshore ramp-up, which helps Germany build a more secure, affordable, and sustainable energy system,” said Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern & Central Europe.
He Dreiht is located about 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Borkum and 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Helgoland. At peak times, more than 500 workers will be out at sea building the farm, using a fleet of more than 60 ships. EnBW’s offshore team in Hamburg is running the show.
The installation process is a major operation. The 64 foundations were already set in the seabed last year. Parts for the turbines are loaded onto the installation vessel Wind Orca in Esbjerg, Denmark, and shipped out in a 12-hour journey to the construction site. From there, the turbines are lifted into place. Meanwhile, crews are also working on internal wind farm cabling.
A partner consortium made up of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP, and Norges Bank Investment Management owns 49.9% of the shares in He Dreiht.
Read more: Trump admin halts $5 billion NY offshore wind project mid-build
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Tesla has released a quick update about its Tesla Semi factory in Nevada. It says that it is on track for volume production of the electric semi truck in 2026.
The Tesla Semi was first scheduled to go into production in 2019, but it has faced numerous delays.
Now, it appears that there is finally some momentum to bring it to volume production.
For the last two years, Tesla has been working to build a new factory next to Gigafactory Nevada, where it builds the battery packs and drive units for most of its electric vehicles built in North America.
Today, Tesla released a “progress update on the factory, confirming that it finished building and it’s now working on deploying the production lines:
Tesla had previously mentioned aiming for volume production by 2025, but it is now only talking about starting production toward the end of the year and ramping up next year.
The automaker reiterated its planned production capacity of 50,000 units.
We recently reported that an early Tesla Semi customer, Ryder, stated that the electric truck program is experiencing more delays and a price increase described as “dramatic.”
They now expect to take deliveries of their first trucks later in 2026 and said that the price has increased “dramatically,” leading them to scale back their pilot program from 42 to 18 Tesla Semi trucks.
When originally unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker mentioned prices of $150,000 for a 300-mile range truck and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Tesla also took orders for a “Founder’s Series Semi” at $200,000.
However, Tesla didn’t update the prices when launching the “production version” of the truck in late 2022. Price increases have been speculated, but the company has never confirmed them.
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Vietnamese solar panel maker Boviet Solar just opened the doors to its first US factory — a huge new PV module plant in Greenville, North Carolina.
The company dropped $294 million into the state-of-the-art facility, which will pump out Boviet’s Gamma Series monofacial and Vega Series bifacial solar panels. They’re using advanced PERC and N-Type solar cell tech, which basically means these panels are built to deliver higher efficiency and better performance across residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale projects.
The Greenville factory’s first phase is now online with an annual PV module output capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW). For Phase 2, which is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2026, Boviet will invest another $100 million to add 600,000 square feet and ramp up to another 2 GW. It will make high-efficiency solar cells.
Once both phases are complete, Boviet’s campus will cover more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing and R&D space. It’s one of the biggest clean energy manufacturing projects North Carolina has ever seen.
The jobs impact is significant, too. The first phase will create 460 skilled local jobs. Phase 2 is expected to add another 908, bringing the total to over 1,300 direct jobs, plus nearly 2,000 more indirect jobs across the region. That’s good news for Pitt County’s economy, real estate market, and workforce training programs.
“This facility is not just creating jobs, but creating opportunity, innovation, and a stronger foundation for eastern North Carolina,” said Senator Kandie Smith. Governor Josh Stein added that Boviet Solar’s move shows how North Carolina is leading the way in clean energy growth.
Read more: Thomas Built Buses debuts its next-gen electric school bus
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