As part of Columbia University's Campus as Lab (CAL) initiative, a team of Mechanical Engineering students in the Energy Track at the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) conducted an assessment of opportunities for vertical solar panel installation on Columbia’s Morningside Campus with the help of Professor Vijay Modi’s lab. CAL aligns with Plan 2030, Columbia’s strategic sustainability roadmap, which highlights Culture Change and Campus as a Living Lab as a key implementation area. Through CAL, students gain hands-on experience tackling campus sustainability challenges, working alongside faculty, operational staff, and industry professionals. The SEAS student project, led by Professor of Mechanical Engineering and of Earth and Environmental Engineering Vijay Modi, took place during the Spring 2025 semester.
The interdisciplinary team included four students—three from Columbia Engineering's Master's program and one undergraduate from Columbia College—working under the guidance of a PhD candidate from SEAS. Their objective was to explore how the vertical surfaces of campus buildings, also known as building façades (or simply walls), could be utilized for solar energy generation, offering an innovative approach to sustainability in a dense urban setting.
To identify the most promising sites for vertical photovoltaic (PV) installations, the team employed spatial analysis tools, considering shading from nearby structures and variations in surface topology. They used specialized software to estimate solar energy output, modeling scenarios in which 50% of the available vertical surface area on three façades per building could be used. The analysis showed that with the number of favorable buildings with large vertical surface area and high sun exposure, PV systems could generate more than 2.4 GWh of electricity annually.
The student group presented to Columbia’s Office of Sustainability and Columbia’s Chief Climate and Sustainability Officer to consider how the research could be used to prompt a deeper analysis – one that would fully evaluate installing vertical solar on existing or even new campus buildings.
This initiative exemplifies Columbia's commitment to integrating sustainability into both its academic programs and campus operations. By leveraging the campus as a living laboratory, students gain valuable hands-on experience in tackling real-world environmental challenges while supporting Plan 2030 sustainability goals.
For more information on Columbia’s Campus as Lab projects, visit this page.
