Next Monday, the United States will honor members of the Armed Forces who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the country during the annual Memorial Day.

Some people will gather at homes for barbecues or simply to remember loved ones lost in conflicts and wars. Others will head to watch parades where members of the military will be saluted.

A U.S. military that is increasingly turning its energy to solar power.

Marine, Navy and Army bases across the country are installing microgrids and solar power systems to cut the use of fossil fuels and at the same become more self-reliant.

For example, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Southern California recently announced the completion of a solar plus storage microgrid offering perpetual off-grid 100% renewable driven energy security through an all iron flow battery DC coupled with solar photovoltaic generation located on both carport shade structures and the buildings' roofs.

Indiana National Guard’s Camp Atterbury also installed a microgrid and so did Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.

The military has become an avid adopter of microgrids on U.S. bases. They use remote microgrids, too, in places like Afghanistan.

Microgrids explained

A microgrid is a mini-version of an electric grid that serve a small geographic area. According to Microgridknowledge.com, “they have sophisticated software and controls. Among other things, this intelligence allows them to ‘island’ from the main grid. That means when they see the domino effect beginning to occur, microgrids can separate and protect themselves from the trouble occurring on the main grid. They stop relying on the grid’s power plants and instead rely only on their own.”

Microgrids are still connected to the electric grid because of efficiency.

“If a microgrid power plant fails, it can turn to the main grid for supply. Or if the main grid runs low on power supply – as it sometimes does on hot summer afternoons when we all are running our air conditioning – it can turn to the microgrid for some help.  The microgrid gets paid for providing services to the grid (known as capacity, demand response and ancillary services), so the grid can serve as a source of revenue for the microgrid,” MicrogridKnowledge.com explains.

Good for natural security

Military bases see solar energy not only as a means of supplying their own power, but as part of national security.

Camp Lejeune’s 55,000 solar panels in Jacksonville, North Carolina, like other renewable energy projects on military bases across the country, are on the front lines of a plan to provide backup power in case terrorists, cyber saboteurs or violent weather cripple the nation’s electric grid, according to McClatchy news conglomerate.

McClatchy gathered data on more than 70 bases that have partnered with electric utilities in solar energy projects that were part of an effort toward replacing decades-old backup systems relying on costly and sometimes unreliable diesel generators.

The rising risks to the U.S. electric grid in recent years have awakened the Pentagon to the possibility that a lengthy outage could paralyze military bases if their backup diesel generators, most of which experts say are poorly maintained, perform poorly.

The U.S. Department of Defense, the single largest energy consumer in the world, has embraced clean energy sources in recent years, doubling its renewable power generation between 2011 and 2015. 

Take Vandenberg Air Force base near Lompoc, California that has a 28-megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system, the largest behind-the-meter solar power system in the Air Force, meaning 100 percent of the energy it produces will be consumed on site. It will produce about 53,000 megawatt hours each year – about 35 percent of Vandenberg's energy needs.

The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) noted in a publication last year that the “the compelling national security advantages of renewable power have been recognized for years by national security experts, the U.S. Congress and a host of senior officials at the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).”
 
Further, it concludes that “with costs decreasing by the day, renewable energy plays an important and increasing role promoting the security of the nation’s electrical grid and supporting the Armed Forces.”

Discounts for veterans

But solar energy is not only benefiting soldiers on bases. Many solar installers and solar product companies offer special discounts to veterans so they can power their homes with this type of renewable energy.

Veterans United Home Loans also makes note of Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) which can be added to a VA loan and provides up to $6,000 for energy improvements. Current homeowners can also refinance into an EEM.

“When considering an EEM, it's important to make energy improvements that will reduce your utility bill to cover the extra monthly cost of the EEM, and solar panels are a viable option to reduce energy consumption,” it says.

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