GRANT TURNING CITY ONTO SOLAR POWER

TIMES-PICAYUNE. JUNE 29, 2008. By Molly Reid

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.

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