Mexican University to Install Solar Photovoltaic System

The Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM) of Mexico City recently announced plans to build a solar photovoltaic system to supply 50 kilowatts of electricity. The UAM, with the assistance of the Institute for Electrical Research (IIE), will be the first institution in Mexico with its own solar PV system. The new system will power its Iztapalapa campus and connect to the grid. According to the university, the project will serve as a research tool to evaluate the application of solar PV on buildings in Mexico.

Clean-energy policy has stalled on a national level in Mexico partly on account of the many permits needed, a lack of accessible transmission lines and a dearth of incentives for the construction of renewable energy sources like solar PV. A little more than half of Mexico’s installed electricity capacity comes from fossil fuels. The rest is made up mainly of large hydroelectric dams and a nuclear plant, deemed by most alternative-energy experts as unsustainable and hence not renewable. Renewable energy accounts for 3% of Mexico’s electricity, according to the government. :: Via Campus Milenio (Spanish link)