Recent photovoltaics systems activity in the united states department of defense

摘要

References (1) and (2) provided a snapshot report of PV in the DoD as of December 1994 and April 1996 respectively. This is an update as of February, 1997. Over the last few years, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) has sponsored the installation of over 2 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaics (PV). Most of the larger systems (an aggregate of 2.1 MW) were for systems at test or training ranges. We estimate that an additional 300 kW of PV powers amll loads, most of them much less than a kilowatt in size. Over the last several years, the principal sources of funds for large systems have been the Energy Conservation Investment Program (ECIP) and the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). Both of these programs have been severely cut back in recent years. The DoD is investigating utility-initiated off-grid tariffs and Energy Savings Performance Contracts for high capital projects.