4,000 solar panels have been installed in New Orleans in the city meaning that Entergy New Orleans have their first installation on a utility scale and an experiment around the technology of battery storage. If the battery update successful, solar energy will be more efficient.
CEO Charles Rice stated that there are problems as the panels do not work when it is dark or cloudy days, and it can be difficult to get the right level of power stored. The company is hoping that the new system will allow storage meaning that there will always be power when it needed. The 500kw lithium battery will store half of a megawatt capacity and send it to around 160 properties and is hoped to begin in the middle of 2016.
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At present there is no real idea how well the battery will work and if there need to be different sizes used to get the results required. The use the battery gets will determine how it performs, and efficiency is affected. There also has to be a consideration taken of the cost bot in monetary terms and to the environment. If the results are as good as hoped, the next step will be to look at where the programme can be moved to next. Feedback from customers has shown that this is what is wanted.