Department of Defense rumors of making solar energy world record

Author: Jared Fallon

Solar energy developments have been extremely rampant as of late across both the private and the public sector. Over the past few months the state of Hawaii has made solar water heaters mandatory beginning in 2010, The Department of Energy’s contracted company Boeing-Spectrolab achieved a world-breaking 40.7% sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency, and IKEA has announced plans to dedicated $77 million to its GreenTech energy fund. Developments have taken off and a plethora of proposed legislation have hit the ground running. Older concerns for lack of interest in solar energy seem to no longer be given even a passing thought as investment has increased from both foreign and overseas entrepreneurs and companies alike. The next groundbreaking development may be about to unfold.

The US Army announced its intentions to build the most powerful solar energy power plant in the world. The push for development has come about as a part of the United State’s increasing worries over its addiction to foreign oil and all around fossil fuel dependence. Despite the fact that this push is long overdue, it is refreshing none-the-less to see such an increase of interest from the DOD. On October 6, 2008 the US Army announced it would “partner with the private sector to construct a 500-megawatt solar thermal plant at Fort Irwin, California, in the Mojave Desert, that will provide renewable power on the grid and provide the sprawling Army post with added energy security against disruption of power supply.” Seeing that the Department of Defense is the world’s largest energy consuming entity, any relief from up to $400 per gallon fuel costs would help give it an edge in deployment and operational capacities.

The policy is paired with other plans on the part of the US government to boost its solar energy development and production. Other legislative topics of interest on the solar energy front include a host of renewable energy research and development plans, a bill to “authorize the National Science Foundation to award a monetary prize for achievement in electricity storage” (H.R.6882), and a proposal to establish a joint cooperation program with the Department of Energy to fund joint ventures with the Israeli government and various businesses and academic institutions (H.R.2229). Policies that are passed should aim to work in conjunction with the Department of Defenses’ sense of urgency to spur solar energy use and encourage the transfer of government developments into the private sector, enabling venture capitalists to do what they do best and help spur innovation. As pending legislation on solar energy development is getting increasingly intense make, sure to have a reliable source to track all updates that occur for this developing energy source.