Tucson Airport Authority Solar Voltaic Project
The Tucson Airport Authority solar voltaic project added solar panel arrays to the parking areas at the Tucson International Airport. This project also improves the landscape at the parking area entrance. The use of ‘greenscreens’ with vines helps to break up the visual mass of the solar array and adds softness to the parking lot. Additional landscape areas were added to the parking lot in areas that were previously only striped asphalt. Preservation of the existing landscape area containing saguaros at the south of the lot was important to the TAA. A 3D model was created to demonstrate the impacts additional solar arrays would have on casting shadows on the vegetation.
Tucson's mayor Jonathan Rothschild said "“It’s one of those iconic projects for Tucson – it’s the first thing people will see when they arrive in Tucson and the last thing they see when they leave”. Read more about this project in the Arizona Daily Star.