The largest collection of solar air heated buildings in the world can now be found at the military base of Fort Drum, in upstate New York. 50 SolarWall systems (totaling over 110,000 ft2) have been installed on 27 military buildings and will collectively generate over 4MW of peak thermal energy.
The project is extremely significant in terms of the sheer magnitude of energy and CO2 savings, and shows the tremendous potential for solar thermal when it is deployed on a large scale.
By using the free energy of the sun - instead of burning fossil fuels for heating purposes - the base will displace over 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide each and every year at one of the coldest locations in the United States. The base is also projected to realize fuel savings of 44 billion BTU/h (46,000 GJ) per year.
The SolarWall air heating system heats the ventilation air that is required in commercial and industrial buildings using a patented transpired solar collector developed by Conserval Engineering. Ventilation heating is typically one of the largest single energy requirements for these types of buildings, which is why solar air heating can generate such significant overall energy savings.
http://www.solardaily.com/reports/4_MW_SolarWall_Installation_Will_Displace_2000_Tons_of_CO2_999.html
One of the SolarWall systems
(4,100 ft2) on Building 91 is
currently being monitored by
NREL (National Renewable Energy
Laboratory). The preliminary
results from one month of
monitoring were calculated as
follows:
• Building 91 @ $0.90 /therm,
• Boiler efficiency 70%
• Solar energy gain - $36/day
• Natural gas savings for the
one SolarWall system for one
month were approximately
$1000
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/assets/documents/story/2008/Fort%20Drum.pdf
Assuming this is true for every solar wall system installed, their saving about 600,000 dollars a year, which means they will recoup their investment costs in about five years. The website mentions that good places to install this technology are on garages, hangars, warehouses and mainentence facilities. In addition to Fort Drum, eight other bases use this solar wall technology. Its encouraging to see the military thinking green and saving a lot of money in the process. Efforts like and similar to these are key to bringing the military's budget under control. And will only help in lowering our defecit and debt.
Showing posts with label military facility energy use. Show all posts
Showing posts with label military facility energy use. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Friday, July 20, 2007
Air Force Solar Power Plant!
The largest solar power plant in North America will soon be providing electricity to an Air Force base in the Nevada desert.
The military says the plant, scheduled to power up at Nellis Air Force Base by the end of the year, shows that solar energy can effectively meet part of the country's energy needs. Despite three decades of development of the technology, solar energy is expensive, requires large amounts of space and taxpayer subsidies, and doesn't work at night or on overcast days.
Nellis, which is outside Las Vegas, is devoting 140 acres to a massive photovoltaic array with panels of silicon wafers that will rotate to follow the sun across the sky and generate electricity.
The plant will be capable of producing 15 megawatts of power, enough to provide 30% of the electric needs on the base, where 12,000 people work and 7,215 people live, Nellis officials say.
The Air Force expects to save $1 million a year in lower electric bills and to use the plant to demonstrate it is boldly advancing the use of renewable energy technology, a commitment of the Bush administration, Ohlemacher says. The Air Force will pay none of the construction costs. Instead, private investors will pay the more than $100 million projected capital cost, anticipating a steady flow of revenue from the Air Force for the electricity and substantial federal tax subsidies.
The project is being built in a complex arrangement between the Air Force and three financial partners:
•SunPower Corp. and its PowerLight subsidiary, California-based solar specialists that will construct the plant.
•MMA Renewable Ventures, a San Francisco company that will attract institutional investors to finance the project and own and operate the plant on land leased by the Air Force.
•Nevada Power, the local power provider, which will indirectly subsidize the Air Force's lower rates through payments to MMA Renewable Ventures.
MMA Renewable Ventures and its investors will take advantage of a 30% federal tax credit that Congress passed in 2005 and expires at the end of this year. Solar advocates are asking Congress for a 10-year extension as a way to keep solar electric economically viable. Investors also can take advantage of accelerated depreciation schedules for solar, an additional tax break, Tomlinson notes.
MMA and its investors will sell solar energy credits generated by the project to Nevada Power. The utility plans to use those credits toward meeting Nevada requirements that it obtain 20% of its power from renewable energy sources by 2015, says Tom Fair, Nevada Power executive for renewable energy. "Our goal is to bring more renewables into the system," Fair says.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-04-17-air-force-solar-power_N.htm
This is one of the most encouraging things I've ever heard about the US Militaries commitment to renewable energy. The only thing I don't like is that the Air Force is not investing its own money into the project. Based off my calculations instead of saving 1 million dollars a year, the air force could be saving 5 to 10 million dollars a year. That would mean payback on the cost of the system would be 10 to 2o years. And they would be actually be saving extra money not going into recouping the cost of the solar program after ten to twenty years. Just think of what they could do with all that extra money! Either way saving money is great if its 10 or 1 million dollars. And with those savings I woulnd't be suprised if they built a solar carport. I'm projecting an increase in commercial solar cell effiency from 22 percent or so to around 30 % in 8 or ten years. With 8 or ten million dollars saved up, coupled with government funding they could build a pretty huge solar carport. The one in San Diego generates around 1.25 megawats a year. And thats only for 446 cars. Just think of what they could do for Nellis Air Force Bases parking lot. They could probably save around a millon dollars a year. And I even had an idea for if they did pay upfront costs. Assuming they saved an average of 8 million dollars a year and put half of that to building a solar car port in ten years they could build a solar carport for the whole base and upgrade the buildings energy effiency. Another interesting possibilty for this base would be geothermal energy or heating. For gosh sakes its in the desert! Another thing that might help is a small wind turbine farm.
The military says the plant, scheduled to power up at Nellis Air Force Base by the end of the year, shows that solar energy can effectively meet part of the country's energy needs. Despite three decades of development of the technology, solar energy is expensive, requires large amounts of space and taxpayer subsidies, and doesn't work at night or on overcast days.
Nellis, which is outside Las Vegas, is devoting 140 acres to a massive photovoltaic array with panels of silicon wafers that will rotate to follow the sun across the sky and generate electricity.
The plant will be capable of producing 15 megawatts of power, enough to provide 30% of the electric needs on the base, where 12,000 people work and 7,215 people live, Nellis officials say.
The Air Force expects to save $1 million a year in lower electric bills and to use the plant to demonstrate it is boldly advancing the use of renewable energy technology, a commitment of the Bush administration, Ohlemacher says. The Air Force will pay none of the construction costs. Instead, private investors will pay the more than $100 million projected capital cost, anticipating a steady flow of revenue from the Air Force for the electricity and substantial federal tax subsidies.
The project is being built in a complex arrangement between the Air Force and three financial partners:
•SunPower Corp. and its PowerLight subsidiary, California-based solar specialists that will construct the plant.
•MMA Renewable Ventures, a San Francisco company that will attract institutional investors to finance the project and own and operate the plant on land leased by the Air Force.
•Nevada Power, the local power provider, which will indirectly subsidize the Air Force's lower rates through payments to MMA Renewable Ventures.
MMA Renewable Ventures and its investors will take advantage of a 30% federal tax credit that Congress passed in 2005 and expires at the end of this year. Solar advocates are asking Congress for a 10-year extension as a way to keep solar electric economically viable. Investors also can take advantage of accelerated depreciation schedules for solar, an additional tax break, Tomlinson notes.
MMA and its investors will sell solar energy credits generated by the project to Nevada Power. The utility plans to use those credits toward meeting Nevada requirements that it obtain 20% of its power from renewable energy sources by 2015, says Tom Fair, Nevada Power executive for renewable energy. "Our goal is to bring more renewables into the system," Fair says.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-04-17-air-force-solar-power_N.htm
This is one of the most encouraging things I've ever heard about the US Militaries commitment to renewable energy. The only thing I don't like is that the Air Force is not investing its own money into the project. Based off my calculations instead of saving 1 million dollars a year, the air force could be saving 5 to 10 million dollars a year. That would mean payback on the cost of the system would be 10 to 2o years. And they would be actually be saving extra money not going into recouping the cost of the solar program after ten to twenty years. Just think of what they could do with all that extra money! Either way saving money is great if its 10 or 1 million dollars. And with those savings I woulnd't be suprised if they built a solar carport. I'm projecting an increase in commercial solar cell effiency from 22 percent or so to around 30 % in 8 or ten years. With 8 or ten million dollars saved up, coupled with government funding they could build a pretty huge solar carport. The one in San Diego generates around 1.25 megawats a year. And thats only for 446 cars. Just think of what they could do for Nellis Air Force Bases parking lot. They could probably save around a millon dollars a year. And I even had an idea for if they did pay upfront costs. Assuming they saved an average of 8 million dollars a year and put half of that to building a solar car port in ten years they could build a solar carport for the whole base and upgrade the buildings energy effiency. Another interesting possibilty for this base would be geothermal energy or heating. For gosh sakes its in the desert! Another thing that might help is a small wind turbine farm.
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