First, let’s talk about the facility, the Louisiana Solar Energy Lab, which should be complete by August. Specifically, what does the facility lend to the solar program and how will its completion allow you to serve the solar program’s intended goals?
The new laboratory and classroom building at the Louisiana Solar Energy Lab will provide a state-of-the-art indoor solar equipment testing capability, giving us the ability to conduct research on solar modules under controlled test conditions. This will complement the already extensive outdoor testing capability at the lab.
The building will also provide office and classroom space for faculty and students who will be doing the research. In addition, the new classroom will provide a very unique opportunity to teach about solar energy in the classroom and then walk right outside to the solar field to obtain hands-on experience. This will provide a unique capability to train both engineers and technicians who want to work in the solar industry.
You’ve been working to make the solar program a leader in Louisiana since 2010. Talk briefly about the history of the program and how it has led to what is happening today.
Our solar journey at UL Lafayette began in 2010, when the Energy Institute of Louisiana at UL Lafayette partnered with Cleco Power to build the Cleco Alternative Energy Center in Crowley. That project and follow-up funding allowed us to build a $10 million facility to study four types of renewable energy, including three that use bio-based waste products, such as wood chips, pecan shells, or seafood processing waste, to produce renewable bio-based versions of natural gas, coal, and methane. For the other project we built the first university-owned concentrating solar thermal power plant in the Southeast portion of the United States.
In 2016 we found a funding opportunity through Louisiana Generating for a photovoltaic project at the university. We proposed to design and build a multi-use 1.1 MW solar energy facility that would not just generate clean energy to help us meet our university sustainability goals but would also allow us to do solar energy research, education, workforce development, economic development and outreach. That project became the Louisiana Solar Energy Lab.
The UL Lafayette Solar Lab seems to complement many existing engineering minors. Which ones will work closest with the Solar Lab?
The Louisiana Solar Energy Lab directly complements the renewable energy minor in the College of Engineering.
Do you foresee another engineering degree specifically tailored to solar? Does this facility encourage that?
In the past three years we have created six solar-related engineering courses at the senior and/or graduate level. I believe that could provide the basis for a future master’s program in renewable energy, which would be directly supported by the solar lab and the new building. Discussions are going on internally regarding that possibility, but no decision has been made yet.
Moving forward, do you foresee all engineering majors at UL including at least some work in solar? Why or why not?
The UL Lafayette engineering program will continue to provide support for all the energy-related industries in Louisiana, including oil and gas, for the foreseeable future. We are not trying to replace oil and gas through our renewable energy offerings, but rather we are showing the way that Louisiana industry can diversify their offerings to allow them to remain competitive in a changing energy market.
What makes UL a state university leader, perhaps the state leader, right now? What will make it the leader?
With its wonderful facilities and faculty talent, UL Lafayette is clearly leading the way within the state with respect to solar energy and many other renewable technologies, such as biomass, hydrogen, energy storage. Our goal is to help the state navigate the transition from a primarily traditional energy economy to the more diverse clean energy economy of the future.
Renewable energy is part of Louisiana’s energy plan for 2050, but it doesn’t seem to displace oil and gas. (In 2020, oil and gas made up 70 percent of U.S. energy consumption; in 2050, it will make up a projected 68 percent, while renewables grow from about 8 percent to about 16 percent.) Is it coal that is being replaced? Why should Louisianians be heartened by this outlook?
Coal plants are being retired all across the country for the simple reason that it is now cheaper to build a new solar or wind facility than to continue to operate a coal plant, and it is much cleaner to do so as well. Last year, 70 percent of the new electrical generation capacity additions were from solar and wind, and about 16 percent was from natural gas. I see that trend continuing and accelerating.
UL Engineering is excited about solar as part of a comprehensive energy plan. Why should everyday Louisianians also be excited by it?
A lot of young people are excited about renewable energy and want to be part of the new clean energy economy. Most large companies, including all the major oil companies, have set aggressive sustainability goals, and there will be lots of jobs in renewable energy. In fact, there are now more workers in solar and wind nationally than in oil and gas extraction. Everybody wants a job, and renewable energy and energy efficiency will be providing a lot of jobs in the future.
I believe that Louisiana workers and companies have the skills and manufacturing facilities to make the transition to a diversified offering of products and services in the clean energy economy of the future, and a lot of young people want to be on the cutting edge of that exciting new future.
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