With utility bills costing up to $18 million annually, Edwards Air Force Base has had three solar farms constructed on its grounds in order to cut electricity costs.
Its largest PV installation at a U.S. Federal site, Borrego Solar recently announced the completion of the 3.4 megawatt solar facility at the base.
Consisting of over 12,000 Suntech solar panels in three arrays, the plants are expected to generate a combined 7,652,000 kilowatt-hours a year, providing approximately 10% of the energy required for base operations.
Array Technologies single-axis ground mounted trackers are part of the installations, following the sun throughout the day to maximize energy production.
Under the terms of a power purchase agreement (PPA), Borrego Solar was responsible for the design and construction of the installation and Edwards will purchase the clean electricity produced.
“Our utility bill can range anywhere from $15 million to $18 million a year and you have to pay that bill. If you don’t have the electricity, the planes don’t fly,” reads part of a statement from James Judkins, 95th CE Director at the Base.
“When the sun is up, and the plants are generating power and feeding it to us, we won’t have to pay Southern California Edison some of the high-demand charges from June through September”
The three solar farms could potentially save the flight test center hundreds of thousands of dollars over the period of the agreement.
The U.S. armed forces has increasingly embraced solar power; with projects including major installations in Hawai’i, at Nells Air Force Base, California’s Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake base, the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Fort Bliss and Fort Irwin military complexes.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has set a target of sourcing 25 percent its energy requirements from renewable sources by 2025.
