OU Gibbs College of Architecture associate professor, Dr. Andrés Cavieres received a 2-year $497,750 grant from the Oklahoma Center for Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) for the development of innovative solutions to streamline the deployment of ground mount photovoltaic systems, with a special focus in the area of Agrivoltaics. This is an emerging practice, which seek greater land use efficiency by combining the production of solar energy with agricultural production on the same field.
V-clamps for photovoltaic modules.
Dr. Cavieres is the principal investigator for this grant, partnering with VesprSolar, to pursue research and development of new technologies to lower the Balance of System costs associated with hardware and labor of solar construction. There is significant room for improvement in this area, as many of the solutions currently available in the market are not only expensive, but also susceptible to multiple types of failure. In this context, a key principle for the project is the development of innovations that not only reduce entry barriers for the deployment of solar, but that are also capable of addressing increasingly stringent operational requirements.
This research is part of an ongoing track record of innovations led by Dr. Cavieres in the PV Integration Lab at the Gibbs College of Architecture. It is built on top of the V-Clamp platform, a patented technology that is already transforming the solar industry around the world with a much faster and secure way to attach PV modules.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture congratulates Thinh "Henry" Duong, a master's student in the Division of Interior Design, for earning first place in the 2026 Robert Bruce Thompson Annual Student Light Fixture Design Competition.
Gibbs College of Architecture Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) Director and Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design (PLAD) faculty member Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., recently published a new book, Collective Yearning: Black Women Artists from the Zimmerli Art Museum.
In May, students from the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture's Architecture, Environmental Design, and Interior Design programs participated in an intensive five-day Studio in Residence at Taliesin West, the iconic winter home and desert laboratory of Frank Lloyd Wright.
