Week 0: Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Talin, and I am excited to welcome you all to my first senior project blog post!

For my senior project, I will be exploring how urban constraints, such as permitting issues, building infrastructure, and zoning regulations, influence solar energy adoption and installment in New York City. Specifically, my research will focus on how those constraints differ between higher- and lower-income neighborhoods.

Paradoxically, solar energy can be both a cheap and expensive form of energy. In cities especially, high upfront costs place solar energy out of reach for many households. Over the long term, however, solar energy becomes relatively inexpensive for those who can afford the initial investment, since sunlight itself is free. 

Therefore, understanding the urban barriers that contribute to these high initial costs is an important step toward improving both solar adoption and equitable access to solar energy in cities. For this project, I will be working remotely with Mars Green Consulting under the Guidance of Dr. Martha Lenio. I will use a combination of data analysis and resident interviews to research this topic. For my final deliverable, I will write a research paper providing a detailed analysis on how regulatory factors influence solar energy adoption across neighbourhoods. 

More information can be found here in my senior project proposal. I look forward to keeping you all updated over the next few weeks!