This 18,000 watt, or 18kW (kilo-watt), photovoltaic parking structure is an electrical energy producing system which converts the sun's energy into usable electricity for the Student Health Center on the campus of New Mexico State University. The electricity produced by the photovoltaic array is passed directly into the Student Health Center's electrical distribution system where it helps to power the lighting systems, refrigeration systems, heating and cooling units and all additional electrical loads in operation during daylight hours.

This photovoltaic system is referred to as a grid-tied or grid-interactive system. The basic components of this type of PV (photovoltaic) system are the photovoltaic array made up of Sharp photovoltaic modules  that produce DC electricity, the grid-tied Sunny Boy 6000 inverters that convert DC (direct current) electricity into AC (alternating current) electricity, and the point of interconnection, which is where energy produced from the photovoltaic array is introduced into the existing electrical system for the building it is connected to.