New Orleans Schools Go Solar With Entergy, Nike, Winrock International, U.S. Green Building Council Partnership, City of New Orleans

The first project of a partnership between Entergy Corporation, Nike Corporation, Winrock International, the Louisiana Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and the city of New Orleans--an advanced, hurricane-resistant solar roof--is now complete.

The New Orleans public school is equipped with a 28-kilowatt solar array that will produce approximately 37,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually – enough to power three typical residential homes.

The partners committed almost $1.7 million to the project with $1.5 million coming from Entergy Corp, which delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The installation at Warren Easton—now the largest solar array in the city—cost approximately $500,000, including equipment, materials and installation.

The project includes an educational component that will help educate both students and teachers about conservation and renewable energy. Students will use the solar equipment as a first-hand learning tool to research and report on how energy conservation can integrate with solar power.

The New Orleans Solar School Initiative originated with Entergy’s purchase of carbon offsets – registered on Winrock International’s American Carbon Registry – from Nike in 2006. The transaction was part of Entergy’s long-range plan to stabilize CO2 emissions 20 percent year 2000 levels through 2010. Nike donated $150,000 of the proceeds from the sale of the carbon offsets, and Entergy committed up to $1.5 million – part of which is tied to an agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission – to install solar systems at New Orleans public schools.

The project is being coordinated by Winrock, a nonprofit organization based in Little Rock, Ark. The project contractor was Advanced Roofing, Inc. Other project partners include the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy and Think Energy.  For more information about Entergy, please visit www.entergy.com