In response to customer demand, a New Orleans utility provider broke ground on an ambitious solar project in February. By mid-2016 Entergy New Orleans’ new solar project is expected to be up, running and reducing the amount of fossil fuel required by Entergy to power the city of New Orleans.

New Orleans Wanted Solar

Every few years Entergy meets with customers and New Orleans city officials to shed light on how it generates power and hear feedback from local residents and officials. During its last session of public engagement, the message was made clear — stakeholders wanted to see an expanded renewable energy component as part of Entergy’s portfolio.

“I don’t think you’re going to find many companies around the country that have a planning process that has as much public input as well as other stakeholder input as they develop their resource plan,” said Entergy New Orleans Vice President Gary Huntley. “Typically that’s done very in house, very close to the vest of the utility company.”

In the past, the numbers weren’t quite right for Entergy to take on solar. But the increasing affordability of solar technology is one of the main reasons things seem to be falling into place this time.

“In the past because of the price of renewables they just have not made it into the portfolio,” said Huntley.

New Technology for New Orleans

The solar project Entergy is currently building will have 4,000 panels and generate 1-megawatt of power, about enough to power 160 homes. The project is also a pilot to test a new generation of batteries with better storage capacity.

“One of the issues with solar panels is availability on cloudy days, at night or generating enough electricity at the right time of day when energy usage peaks,” said Entergy New Orleans President and CEO Charles Rice. “Our pilot project will evaluate the ability to store and deliver solar energy to the electricity grid when customers need it — not just when the sun is shining.”

Customers depend on utility companies to provide uninterrupted service and improving solar batteries with more storage capacity are helping to make solar an even more viable option.

“We think it’s going to inform us in terms of viability of battery storage and how it will fit into our system on a distribution side. We really don’t know how that battery is going to perform or how it needs to be optimized for our system,” said Huntley. “If it’s very successful, we’ll have to look at the cost of it and figure out if, when, where, how we add more to our portfolio.”

Entergy also operates in Arkansas, Texas, and Mississippi, so the New Orleans pilot may help spread solar across the south.

Solar for All

One barrier to wider adoption of solar has been renters. Not that renters don’t want to install solar panels, but not owning the building or property they live on prevents them from doing it.

One way renters have been able to convert to renewable energy is through community solar projects. Some residents opt to join a solar project owned by a third party that supplies them with energy from solar panels. Others, like in New Orleans, have lobbied their local utility companies to add solar power to their portfolios.

Want to find out more about solar energy and how it can help you potentially drive your energy bill down to zero? Contact us today for a free quote.