“The U.S. solar industry — which has experienced a 20
percent spike in job numbers from last year — currently employs close to
143,000 individuals. Nearly 10 percent of those employed in the solar sector
are military veterans. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, veterans
make up only 7.6 percent of the overall U.S. workforce.”
“While the bulk of the jobs veterans occupy in solar are
comprised of installation and manufacturing positions (39 percent and 27
percent, respectively), Luecke said the overall data points to opportunities
for veterans to earn a higher wage while receiving invaluable work experience.
“We found that solar installers make, on average, $23 to $24 per hour,” Luecke
said. “In general, these jobs are very high skilled and very well paying jobs.”
A friend retired from his DOD job a few years ago. As a new college graduate he didn't
find any challenges a microwave engineer in private industry. His private
industry employer didn’t care how long or how well his designs would function
but only if a customer would want one. As a DOD employee he designed the
satellite/ground communication system our military used in Operation Desert
Storm. Years later we use some of the concepts his DOD team designed in our
smart phones.
Our military is one of the largest users of solar power. The
new systems the U.S. military designs may make their way into regular civilian
use:
“DOD and the Mainstreaming of Solar The fact that the DOD’s heavy investment in solar could pave
the way toward such advances, and toward mainstreaming a technology that is
viewed by many as too costly, is not lost on renewable energy proponents. Nor
is it lost on Kidd, who emphasized the U.S. military’s historical influence on
achieving technological progress that would take the private sector twice as
long. “The military has long been a source of technical innovation, driving
advances in technology,” Kidd said, “but only when it’s contributed to our
mission. The DOD’s mission is not the same as the DOE’s, even though there is
an overlap of interest in many cases.”
Kidd added that the Army is presently working toward
improvements that will set new standards for reductions in balance of system
costs. “These are all very good and positive things that will result from our
efforts,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Defense continues to pursue
innovations in solar energy production. “The DOD’s Installation Energy Test Bed
is funding demonstrations of innovative solar energy technologies from the
private sector,” Wright said. “Further testing and analysis will establish
their technical and economic performance, and in turn help the industry expand
the role of successful technologies in mainstream renewable energy markets.”
A recent announcement by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
in Washington, D.C. unveiled plans to create a space-based solar array that
would orbit the Earth, capturing solar rays and transmitting them to land-based
receivers — offering evidence, even to those in doubt, that the DOD’s combined
renewable energy efforts could well be the catalyst that ushers in a new and
vastly improved age in solar technology."
FROM
Vince Font, Contributing Editor
April 23, 2014
Caln Township PA has it’s own private-public solar
generation station coming:
Coatesville Solar Initiative - Economic Impact
COATESVILLE AND CHESTER COUNTY, PA
"The Coatesville Solar Initiative (CSI) is a 9.1 Megawatt
(MW) homegrown project! CSI managing partner, Bob Keares of Keares Electrical
Contracting is based in Exton and employs over 100 people.
Our investors and potential workforce are local. Goods and
services will be sourced locally to the greatest extent possible. Two members
of the CSI development team are graduates of Coatesville High School.
Capital expenditure of around $35 million, of which $12
million is expected to be spent locally over the two year construction phase.
Coatesville Area School District will purchase 6 MW of clean
renewable energy through a long term power purchase agreement (PPA). Millions
saved over the term of the PPA will go back into education programs and help
already strained budgets. The Chester County Intermediate Unit has expressed
interest in purchasing the remaining 1.2 MW.
Taxpayers in the school district will benefit from stable
electricity prices over the 25 year PPA.
Solar farms require no public infrastructure. Unlike
residential and commercial developments, CSI will not burden taxpayers with the
need for more classrooms, roads, trash pickup and police."
MORE AT:
