Grant Turns The Big Easy Into Solar City

Gathered around a mock roof in the middle of a workshop at the Louisiana Technical College Jefferson campus this week, 13 potential solar panel installers analyzed a quartet of photovoltaic panels mounted in a continuous row. The group had spent the past two days in class learning the basics of solar technology installation, and they seemed ready to put their skills to use.

"Do they have to be all together like that?" asked Larry Chan, chief electrical inspector for the New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits, who attended the course to familiarize himself and his department with solar technology. "See, now I would spread them apart, so there's room to walk between them."

Some group members nodded their heads, and they discussed other options for making the panels more accessible. The solar students finished the first part of the training course Wednesday; by the time they complete a second training series in mid-July, they will be solar installers certified by the federal Department of Energy and ready to supply the New Orleans area with renewable energy.

The training course, the first of its kind in the New Orleans area, was partially funded by a $200,000 grant from the Department of Energy, which was given in June 2007 to a total of 13 "Solar Cities" across the country to encourage the use of solar power. The grant was divided between the city's Office of Recovery and Development Administration; the New Orleans branch of Global Green USA; the Alliance for Affordable Energy, which organized the training course; and New Orleans-based sustainable design consultancy FutureProof.

The city and other recipients are matching the grant with in-kind services, said John McGowan, who last month signed on as energy director for the city of New Orleans. The grant also includes technical support and training from the Department of Energy's "Tiger Team," a group of energy experts throughout the country, including the Florida Solar Energy Center, which provided instructors and materials for the training course.

As Louisianians face unprecedented state and federal tax credits offering up to $12,500 off the cost of solar panel systems, solar technology has yet to become a significant trend. A barely-there solar business infrastructure (there are currently five certified solar installers in the entire state, said Forest Bradley-Wright with the Alliance), a lack of public information about the technology and the financial hump of buying a solar system, even with the tax credits, are the main obstacles the grant will tackle through programs such as the solar installation course, McGowan said... read the rest