Buckley Air Force Base Goes Solar 

Home to more than 10,000 men and women who representing every branch of the military -- Active Duty, National Guard and Reserve, Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado recently introduced solar energy to its help power the facilities.

Working closely with the Base’s Energy Manager, SolSource designed and installed three solar energy systems during the spring of 2007.  SolSource served as a subcontractor to SAIC. The systems include two 9.8 kW PV systems and a 1000 square foot solar heating system, using SolarWall®.

In keeping with the Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 and Executive Order 13413, the Air Force has begun actively incorporating renewable energy systems into their operations. The three systems at Buckley are part of a ‘pathfinder program’, in which distributed generation technologies are reviewed for broader deployment.

The SolarWall® solar air heating system is a metal wall system that uses solar energy to heat and ventilate indoor spaces. The metal cladding is heated by the solar radiation from the sun, and ventilation fans located at the top of the wall create negative pressure in the air cavity, drawing in the solar heated air through the panel perforations.   A connection to an HVAC intake allows air to be preheated before entering the air handler, reducing the load on the conventional heater.  This heated fresh air is then distributed into the building through the existing HVAC system. 

Each PV system consists of fifty-six Solar World 175 watt modules and two Fronius 4500 watt inverters. The modules were fastened into place using the Sunlink system. The PV systems are expected to produce 1100 kWh’s a month. The PV and Solar Wall systems are both being monitored on a real time basis with software designed by Set Point Systems.