U.S. military sees surge to solar power
Laura Isensee - Analysis
LOS ANGELES
Wed Dec 9, 2009 7:09pm EST
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The United States is calling out the military to help it win the global war for clean energy, building solar farms at bases and funding research.
U.S. military leaders hope the surge will help secure energy security at home and abroad, but the strategy could also boost the solar industry and soothe critics who fear the United States is lagging China and other nations in clean technology.
For some, the military's focus evokes China's top-down orders to expand its own solar and wind industries and use more alternative energy at home.
"The (Department of Defense) is kind of like China. When the DoD says 'do this thing,' this thing gets done," said Dan Nolan, an Army veteran who started a consultancy, Sabot 6 Inc, to connect green energy companies with government agencies.
Federal mandates require U.S. forces to cut energy use by about a third by 2015 and to obtain a quarter of their energy needs from solar and other clean power by 2025.
Sprawling desert bases will install shiny black and blue solar panels and other solar technology -- so far with enough combined power to match that of two mid-sized coal plants -- as private companies look to lease land from the military and sell power back to a solid customer that wants energy security and other customers, too.
"We recognized that we were big emitters as well as big fuel users," said Jerry Hansen, the U.S. Army's senior energy executive, in an interview.
Meanwhile, federal lab scientists are working to make the technology cheaper and more efficient to improve fighting capability -- solar-powered radios could help soldiers abroad.
Solar power companies, including SunPower Corp, Japan's Sharp Corp and Ascent Solar Technologies Inc, eye a growing market that could also help spread the use of solar power in the Unites States as well.
MAJOR INSTALLATIONS
Toward its mission, the U.S. Army plans to install a 500- megawatt solar project with a unit of Spain's Acciona SA and Clark Energy Group at Fort Irwin in California's Mojave desert.
Developers could grow it to 1 gigawatt plan to use both photovoltaic panels that turn sunlight into electricity and concentrated solar power that uses the sun's heat to create steam and turn turbines for electricity.
Less than 150 miles away at Edwards Air Force Base where pilots test new aircraft, another solar project could break ground in 2012 or 2013. The U.S. Air Force's real-estate arm is in talks with Fotowatio Renewable Ventures to build a crystalline photovoltaic solar system of up to 600 MW.
Both projects seek to use lease agreements where the bases rent out property and perhaps gain revenue from services, while the private sector builds the project in the hopes of profits.
The military's land -- often unused or unsuitable for other purposes -- and large electric loads make it a natural place for clean energy projects that can cover swaths of land and often spark concern from conservationists.
The projects dwarf the two-year-old 14 MW solar-plant at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, which SunPower, Evergreen Solar Inc, Sanyo Electric Corp Ltd and Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd all helped supply.
GROWING MARKET
The Army sees potential for solar, geothermal, wind and biomass at dozens of bases, while the Air Force is considering projects at bases in Ohio, New Jersey and New Mexico.
One key to more projects is renewable energy goals in states, such as California, said Dennis Guadarrama, who manages strategic assets at Air Force Real Property Agency.
Those goals and other state incentives make the projects a better deal for developers who team up with the military.
Over the last three months, Japan-based Sharp has supplied solar panels to six U.S. bases, lifting government work to a range of 8 percent to 12 percent of its U.S. business, up from less than 1 percent in the past, said Ron Kenedi, vice president of Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group.
Companies such Thornton, Colorado-based Ascent Solar want to attack the market for field applications -- such as tents with solar panels integrated into the fabric.
"(The military's) criteria is not necessarily to get the best dollar per watt ... The saving-lives element is more important," said Ascent's chief executive Farhad Moghadam.
(Reporting by Laura Isensee; editing by Andre Grenon)
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