The 2025 Climate Case Competition, hosted by The Energy & Climate Club and Phoenix Sustainability Initiative and sponsored by the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, concluded with a symposium on May 15. Following a day of student presentations, the competition partner announced the winning teams, who each shared a brief summary of their proposals.
In this case competition, teams of up to five College students took on the role of consultants to Acciona Energía, the largest global energy company operating exclusively in renewable technologies. Each team developed a strategy to expand and optimize agrivoltaic systems, a technique combining solar energy and sustainable agriculture.
Participants were mentored by graduate students and professionals in the renewable energy and finance sectors to develop their proposals. The prompt required an interdisciplinary approach: effective agrivoltaic solutions lie at the intersection of engineering, environmental science, economics, and community planning. Judges looked for ideas that are not only technically sound, but also environmentally sustainable, economically viable, and beneficial to local communities.
11 total teams participated in the Case Competition throughout spring quarter. After refining their pitches through a series of presentations to a panel of Institute staff and Acciona associates, the teams were narrowed down to six finalists. Finalists advanced to the final judging round on May 15, where three top teams were chosen to win prizes of up to $2,500.
Meet the teams and explore their projects:
Pasture Powered (First Place)
Team Members: Iris Badezet-Delory, Charlie White, Eric Fang, Jackson Slater, Jesenia Parthasarathy
Project Summary: As utility-scale solar expands across the United States, competition for prime development land is increasing—often putting clean energy projects at odds with agricultural production. Team Pasture Powered proposed a scalable “cattle-voltaic” model that enables solar developers to partner with local dairy farmers by grazing young heifers (6 months – 2 years old) beneath solar panels. This dual-use strategy offers operational cost savings for developers by replacing mowing with managed grazing, while helping dairy farmers avoid the significant costs of transporting heifers to Western rangeland for pasture access.
“I came in not really knowing anything about agrivoltaics or energy production in general, but through research with this wonderful team, I learned a lot,” said Pasture Powered team member Jesenia Parthasarathy. “I also learned that this field is quite understudied, so it’s not just me that doesn’t know a lot — the world is still learning a lot about agrivoltaics. I’m very excited that we got to contribute some part of that.”
Sustainable Freaks (Second Place)
Team Members: Tae Kyeong Hong, David Edwards, Juliet Katz, Ralph Lam, Vickey Zhou
Project Summary: Team Sustainable Freaks recommended that Acciona Energía implement a 10-vineyard agrivoltaics cluster system in California vineyards. This strategic expansion would leverage California’s favorable conditions, including strong renewable energy policies (RPS, IRA), advanced solar infrastructure, severe drought conditions, and vineyard oversupply challenges. Vineyards are identified as ideal candidates for agrivoltaics integration due to their natural alignment with solar installation requirements: wide row spacing, manual harvesting methods, shade tolerance, and the industry’s need to manage crop yield.
“At first, when we started with our agrivoltaic system, we were a little bit discouraged,” said team member David Edwards. “We thought, ‘Oh, this isn’t going to make financial sense. How do we make this work?’ But we realized once you get more creative with some solutions including partnering with the growers, providing more value for them, as well as taking advantage of some government programs, this can actually be a really profitable, and also beneficial, entity for the world.”
Super Sisters Solutions (Third Place)
Team Members: Anna Bonnem, Vera Chaudhry, Lillian Gilbert-Smith, Jonah Lovejoy, Chelsea Wilp
Project Summary: Team Super Sisters Solution’s proposal seeks to expand and optimize agrivoltaic systems through integration of solar energy generation into existing soybean acreage. Soy is the second-largest crop in the US by acreage and is shade resilient, making it the perfect landscape for ACCIONA’s newest venture into agrivoltaics. The team targeted Illinois due to its leading position in US soy production and its many applicable financial incentives and tax benefits.
“We started by researching the kinds of crops that work best with solar panels and what solar panels need to do well and produce an ideal amount of energy,” said team member Vera Chaudhry. “I think the ‘Aha!’ moment for us was when we realized that soybeans are that solution. On top of that, they are in Illinois and in the Midwest region which is an area that does have a lot of solar projects, a place that ACCIONA has worked a lot in in the past, and on top of that, has all these policy benefits.”
The Tree-o (Finalist)
Team Members: Willa Wiley, Robbie Hlatki, Sadie Foer
Project Summary: Team Tree-O proposed an agrivoltaic pilot program in Central Nigeria in semi rural communities that strategically integrates solar energy generation with tuber cultivation, addressing energy accessibility, food insecurity, and environmental degradation. The team proposed creating cooperative communities with small holder farmers and implementing an open AV system with panels 2m high at 50% panel density. Tubers such as yams and cassava, which thrive under partial shade, will be the primary crops. The design includes rainwater harvesting, supports hand-farming, and integrates mini-grid solar systems.
Photosynthisquad (Finalist)
Team Members: Vivian Li, Zoe Springsteen, Rudra Salgia Patel
Project Summary: Team Photosynthisquad’s proposal outlines how Acciona can unlock new value from its solar-PV portfolio by retrofitting three flagship plants—Red-Tailed Hawk (TX, 350 MW, 3 000 ac), Union Solar (OH, 325 MW, 2 500 ac) and Royalla (ACT, 24 MW, 124 ac)—with an integrated agrivoltaics system. Their design pairs rotational sheep grazing with soil-enriching lettuce and kale. Each site is divided into 200-acre paddocks; sheep rotate every five days while crops grow in resting paddocks, creating “no-idle” dual use that improves soil structure, boosts biodiversity, and delivers two harvests per season.
Double Gains (Finalist)
Team Members: Omar Marei, Vidwat Jain
Project Summary: Project Power Puglia is a 50-megawatt solar farm designed to do more than just produce clean energy- it also supports the local economy. Located near Lecce in the sun-rich region of Puglia, Italy, the project combines elevated solar panels with active strawberry cultivation underneath. By raising the solar panels 2.5 meters (about 8 feet) off the ground, the system allows farmers to grow crops year-round while generating enough electricity to power thousands of homes