Nevada
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at
12:58 pm
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This is from Defensenews.com.
Nellis AFB Leads the Way on Solar Power
By SEAMUS O’CONNOR
Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., is home to North America’s largest solar power array — and it didn’t cost the U.S. Air Force a dime.
The photovoltaic cell farm is the product of a unique arrangement among the Air Force, energy corporations and the state of Nevada. Its backers say the project will save the Air Force money, earn the companies revenue and cut air pollution.
The array includes about 70,000 silicon-based solar panels that rotate 30 degrees throughout the day to collect maximum light. Some panels are “bifacial,” meaning the backs of the panels are coated in crystals, too, to collect light reflected off the hard desert earth, said Michelle Price, base energy manager with the 99th Civil Engineer Squadron.
The system’s maximum output is about 15 megawatts, enough to power about 2,200 homes, or fill about a quarter of the base’s needs, Price said.
“Times of day, it’ll be more, times of seasons of the year, it’ll be more,” she said.
The first 5 megawatts of production came on line Oct. 12. The state energy office has by now OK’d another 5 megawatts for use with the last 5 megawatts of production slated for activation in early or mid-December, Price said. All the power goes directly to the base, she said.
In 2004, a few solar power companies pitched the idea of a solar farm to Nellis.
“It was just something that we kind of kicked around, something we didn’t know if we could ever do,” Price said. “It didn’t really become a fully fleshed project until 2006,” when a request for proposal was formally issued.
Construction began in June and is scheduled to be done by December — a “surprisingly fast” pace that Nellis had to work hard to support, Price said. “That’s kind of unheard-of in a [military construction] project.”
In fact, the only bump in the road was the weather: The day they turned on the system was “the first cloudy day in about four months,” base spokesman Michael Estrada said.
The agreements that made the project possible are a model for future Air Force energy initiatives, Price said. When Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne visited Nellis on Nov. 9, he pressed upon the project managers the possible revolution that such arrangements could create for the service, Price said.
SunPower Corp. built and operates the array, which is owned by green power company MMA Renewable Ventures. The system was built on 140 acres of land that Nellis leased free to MMA. In turn, MMA will give the Air Force a deep discount on its power bill.
Nellis’ primary energy supplier is the Nevada Power company, which must produce a certain amount of power from renewable sources — or buy renewable energy credits from companies that do — to meet state guidelines. So MMA profits by selling power to the Air Force and by selling its credits to Nevada Power.
Construction on the project cost more than $100 million, “but none of that cost is going to come back to the Air Force,” Price said. “It’s no-cost, but we’re going to save money.”
And the savings could be immense. Nellis was paying 9 cents per kilowatt-hour for its energy, but MMA is charging only about 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour for the solar power, Price said.
The savings are expected to add up to about $1 million this year. Because Nellis’ contract with MMA locks in the rate it pays for 20 years, rising costs of traditional energy sources could make the comparative savings even greater.
And the people of Nevada can breathe easier: The solar array negates 24,000 tons of carbon dioxide that would be created if the 15 megawatts were coming from a coal-fired plant.
“The loss of one of those links makes the project not work,” Price said. “It’s a complex partnership, but it’s definitely something that we’ve all done together.”
The future of the project looks sunny for all involved.
Aside from cheap energy, the Air Force could benefit from an expanded solar power market.
“As more and more people invest in production capabilities for the solar arrays, it drives the cost down,” Estrada said.
That market could easily expand to bases and communities across the nation, Price said.
“People think it would only work in the desert or in desert regions, but that’s honestly not true,” she said.
In fact, Price said she’s had contact with officials with the Oregon Army National Guard who want to start a photovoltaic project. Even where there isn’t a wide open area for panels, she said, rooftops and other surfaces can make solar power viable.
New Jersey toughened its renewable energy law last year, and Hawaii is interested in solar power; energy there can cost as much as 30 cents per kilowatt-hour, Price said.
The bottom line, though, lies with the states and how much value they put on renewable energy.
“What makes this project viable here … was the selling of the renewable energy credits to Nevada Power,” Price said. “You need a state with a strong renewable energy focus” to profitably sell the credits.