The state’s second-largest solar facility is being built right here in the Hub City. The UL at Lafayette College of Engineering is behind the project.

Landry in Lafayette will notice a field of beams. It’s 4,5 00 solar panels that will soon provide renewable energy, a research lab ErasteAnyone driving down and pilot further projects.

The Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Center have created a field of solar panels for the past two years. This five-million dollar project is sponsored by Louisiana Generating LLC. The purpose is to provide one-tenth of the university’s total energy, cut the cost of electricity and contribute to better air quality. Students of the university will also have the chance to use the facility as a research lab.  Director of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy at the College of Engineering at UL at Lafayette, Terrence Chambers, says it will provide an even greater platform for learning.

“We’re actually going to use this as an applied research and testing lab. So we’ll have both graduate students and undergraduate students out here studying how various solar technologies work in Louisiana. That will help train them to be the next generation of renewable energy engineers,” said Chambers.

In conjunction with testing, the project has three different types of panels layered across the field. If things go right, the fuel could soon extend to our homes and cars. The expected completion date is by the end of March.