The hurricane-resistant, 28-kilowatt solar array with produce approximately 37 megawatt-hours of electricity each year—enough to power three typical residential homes. The solar equipment will also provide a first-hand learning experience for students to research and report on how energy conservation can integrate with solar power.

NOSSI originated with Entergy's purchase of carbon offsets—registered on Winrock's American Carbon Registry—from Nike in 2006. The transaction was part of Entergy's long-range plan to stablize emissions by 20 percent at year-2000 levels by 2010. Nike donated $150,000 of the proceeds from the sale of the carbon offsets, and Entergy has committed up to $1.5 million to install solar systems at more New Orleans public schools. "In this project, Nike and Entergy found a way to use the market to reduce emissions and help students and teachers learn the skills future energy managers will need," said John Kadyszewski, director of ACR.