The Air Force’s Soaring Heights Communities at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., is slated to become the largest solar-powered residential area in the continental US, according to the project’s planners. In a release Monday, this consortium of industry and banks said the solar systems being established there are expected to provide more than 10 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, enough to cover an estimated 75 percent of the on-base housing community’s power needs next year. Eventually the solar systems, which will comprise ground-mounted photovoltaic modules and rooftop solar arrays on approximately 900 residences, could offset 100 percent of the area’s electricity use. The Air Force already operates the nation’s largest solar farm at Nellis AFB, Nev.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
