University of the Virgin Islands Breaks Ground on Solar Farm

(TNS) — In a move to boost energy resilience and promote sustainable economic growth across the territory, the University of the Virgin Islands and the UVI Research and Technology Park recently broke ground on a solar farm at the university’s St. Croix campus.

The one-acre solar farm, funded through a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant and supported by the Office of Disaster Recovery, replaces a previous rooftop array that was damaged during hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, according to a news release from the RTPark.

The new ground-mounted system is designed to reduce reliance on fossil fuels while also minimizing risk from future storms, and it directly aligns with UVI’s broader energy management strategy, which targets a 60 percent reduction in fossil fuel use across the institution. The estimated completion for the solar farm is August 2026, according to the news release.

The groundbreaking was held earlier this month.

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