Freshly installed solar panels soak up sunshine in a Fort Riley neighborhood. Photo by Mikayla Gentine.
(May 9, 2018) The Department of Defense, along with companies Corvias and Onyx, have completed the first phase of Fort Riley’s Solar Program in an effort to reduce the army installation’s dependency on conventional energy.
This is the largest solar program in the state of Kansas, with 177 of the 1,260 home solar panels already installed. In its first year of full operation, these solar panels will produce 14,000 megawatts (MWh) to replace conventional energy production. This is equivalent to 2,736 cars taken off the road annually, and 14,510 acres of forest planted. The project is seven years ahead of schedule. Colonel John Lawrence, Fort Riley garrison commander, mentions the project doesn’t cost the Department of Defense a penny. In fact, money saved from solar energy will be redistributed into programs that improve the quality of life for Fort Riley residents.
“As we reduce costs and save power,” Col. Lawrence explained, “we can divert that money somewhere else, to provide family programs and things of that nature.”
37 percent of annual electricity consumption on Fort Riley will come from these solar panels, which will eliminate 92,000 tons of carbon emissions each year.
Not only is the impact on the environment noteworthy, but the benefits to Fort Riley and its residents are tremendous. This is according to Corvias Strategic Advisor, Beth Worthley.
“The benefit of the solar project,” says Worthley, “is that we’re offering the Fort Riley housing project, as a whole, energy, stability and security. Over the 25 year life of this project we have rate predictability with the cost of electricity. So, as utility rates fluctuate with electricity, we will achieve savings here in the solar project because it’s a fixed rate.”
The rest of Fort Riley’s solar panels should be installed on homes by October of this year.
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Author: Mikayla Gentine, KMAN. Published: 9 May 2018
Contributing parties to the solar panel project cut a ribbon, symbolizing the completion of the project’s first phase. Photo by Mikayla Gentine.
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