Spring 2024 Sustainability Fellow: Jonus Goldstein

Partner: City of Tallahassee Clean Energy Planning

Project: Tallahassee Solar Audit: Usage and Health

Student: Jonus Goldstein

Jonus Goldstein, a first-year student at FSU majoring in Management Information Systems and Political Science, worked as a Sustainability Fellow for the Spring 2024 semester. Partnered with the City of Tallahassee, Jonus worked with David Byrne to conduct a Tallahassee Solar Audit, assessing the efficiency and health of Tallahassee’s solar systems and EV infrastructure. 

Although this is only his first year at FSU, Jonus has been eager to positively impact not only FSU’s campus but the wider Tallahassee community through his many involvements, including serving as a Fellow. Jonus’ role as a Fellow was to evaluate how the City of Tallahassee tracks the efficiency of their solar panels and EV charging stations through analyzing digital data dashboards and creating in-depth reports tailored for clarity and impact regarding the productivity of these solar systems. These reports serve as tools for providing insight into holes within the system that Tallahassee can seek to fill in the city’s mission to be more sustainable. 

“I enjoyed seeing how the City of Tallahassee makes decisions and operates daily. It was truly eye-opening to be allowed to work with them in a decision-making capacity and have the opportunity to take a first-hand look at what they're working on,” stated Goldstein. 

Jonus utilized advanced digital dashboards to continuously gather real-time data on the performance and usage of solar installations which allowed him to conduct regular health checks to assess system functionality and efficiency. He then analyzed that data to understand overall system behavior and performance to compare against established benchmarks. 

In his findings, 254 working microinverters were accounted for across the examined locations and the calculated average savings per inverter repair was $135.03.

From Jonus’ data analysis, he found that the City has no dedicated way of keeping up with its solar panels, resulting in a large amount of the hardware that the panels run on being degraded and broken, limiting the ability of these panels to generate power. Recognizing that this current system was not as effective as the organization could be, Jonus began to develop innovative recommendations to optimize the monitoring processes, extend the lifespan of solar panels, and expand the network of EV chargers in Tallahassee. Through identifying these opportunities and working with the City of Tallahassee, monitoring solutions can begin to be implemented and improve the quality and quantity of harvesting solar energy within Tallahassee. 

The impact of Jonus’ project will be lasting as the City can continue to streamline the monitoring processes to enhance efficiencies and increase sustainability efforts.

“This project has been a great way to work on data analytics in a constructive environment, while also working on a real goal with substantive results,” said Goldstein. 

To access Jonus’ project deliverables, click here. 

To learn more about the Sustainability Fellows program, visit sustainablecampus.fsu.edu/sustainability-fellows.