Energy futuresMarines complete largest solar power system yet
The U.S. Marine Corps recently completed construction of a 1.4 megawatt solar electric system at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton; the solar installation is currently the largest system installed to date on a Marine base; the new system is expected to generate 2,400 megawatts each year and power roughly 400 homes; it will save the base $336,000 in energy costs annually; on Monday, the Corps announced a comprehensive strategy to harness solar energy in Afghanistan to reduce fuel consumption and save lives
Part of the USMC Camp Pendleton solar array // Source: usmc.mil
The U.S. Marine Corps recently completed construction of a 1.4 megawatt solar electric system at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. The solar installation is currently the largest system installed to date on a Marine base.
Kyocera Solar, Inc., a subsidiary of Kyocera Corp., constructed the system using 225 solar panels placed on reclaimed land that was once a landfill.
The new system is expected to generate 2,400 megawatts each year and power roughly 400 homes. It is also projected to save the base $336,000 in energy costs annually. The Marines have been actively experimenting with alternative energy sources, particularly solar, down range and at bases in the United States.
On Monday, the Corps announced a comprehensive strategy to harness solar energy in Afghanistan to save lives.
Thousands of Marines will be issued solar-powered equipment and portable solar generators to minimize fuel consumption. A three-month study found that one Marine was wounded for every fifty refuel missions in Afghanistan.
These portable generators help power communications equipment, laptops, and command stations.
Colonel Robert J. Charette Jr., director of the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Energy Office in Washington, D.C., said, “The immediate impact is our war fighters are safer today than they were yesterday,” said
The Corps will spend $9 million to equip Marines deploying to Afghanistan with solar panels by 2012. Colonel Charette also hopes to increase the number of solar-power generators in Afghanistan from nine to 300 by December 2012.
