Germany-headquartered electronics giant Siemens has been contracted to build a photovoltaic (PV) array at the US Army's White Sands missile range, as part of a $16.8m energy savings performance contract (ESPC).
The capacity of the system has not yet been revealed, but the Army said it expects the panels to help the facility produce 10.2 per cent of its power from renewable sources by the end of 2012. It will qualify for a federal cash grants in excess of $4.8m, as well as providing the army with 10,000 solar renewable energy credits a year.
The project supports President Barack Obama's directive for federal agencies to make $2bn worth of energy efficiency upgrades over the next two years utilising ESPCs.
Judy Marks, president and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies, said, 'This project implements a solar photovoltaic array system that will partially offset White Sands Missile Range's energy requirements, improve facilities and operations, demonstrate Army engineering and technology capabilities and align with the army's energy security and NetZero objectives.'
The US Military has been a keen supporter of renewable technologies in recent times. At the end of last year the US Navy made a record biofuel order for from Dynamic Fuels.