Standing beside 1,400 towering solar panels, senior members at Hill Air Force Base flicked a symbolic green switch Thursday morning, starting the first flow of solar energy with the base's massive power grid.
The panels are the product of nearly two years of planning and collaborative work between the Department of Energy, the 75th Civil Engineer Group and Ameresco Federal Solutions, an energy solutions company contracted by the DOE.
At peak performance, they can produce 220 kilowatts of energy, or the amount of power used by approximately 25 homes.
Base officials could not provide a cost estimate for the solar field, but Harry Briesmaster, director of the 75th Civil Engineer Group, said the Air Force would eventually recoup the entire cost of the project through energy credits from Rocky Mountain Power.
In a deal established with the power company, HAFB is given credits on its energy bill for every kilowatt it produces through renewable energy projects.
Col. Patrick Higby, commander of the 75th Air Base Wing, said the solar field had important implications for energy security.
"If the base is threatened from the outside, 25 homes can still be powered," he said. "Nobody can change that. We are harnessing what God has given us, and that's the sun and the sky."
Plans are in place to expand the solar field by four times its current size, allowing for the capture of up to one megawatt of solar energy.
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