The FBI’s raid on Solyndra aside, the forecast is looking much clearer for at least one solar company these days.
SolarCity has won a $1 billion contract from the U.S. military to install 160,000 solar rooftop installations at 124 military bases in 33 states across the country, an undertaking that would effectively double the current number of residential solar systems, according to RenewableEnergyWorld.com.
In addition, the San Mateo, Ca.-based company has secured a $344-million loan from the US Renewables Group, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and a loan guarantee by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The project, called SolarStrong, is the “largest domestic residential rooftop solar project in history,” according to Energy Secretary Steven Chu in a release.
“The scale of this is absolutely massive,” Lyndon Rive, SolarCity CEO told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s equal to all the solar the country’s installed in the last 30 years.”
If that wasn’t sunny enough for you, consider the fact that the project intends to create “approximately 750 construction jobs over five years and 28 full time operating jobs,” according to the DOE. “Many of the jobs are expected to be filled by U.S. veterans and military family members, who will be recruited, trained and employed to install, operate and maintain the photovoltaic (PV) systems.”
It is also expected to generate 371 megawatts of solar energy and will help the Defense Department reach its goal of obtaining a quarter of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2025. The Defense Department is the largest single-entity consumer of electricity in the U.S., according to the Associated Press.
The way that customers will pay for their energy is also unique: SolarCity owns, operates and maintains all of its equipment. It charges customers a monthly rate to either lease the panels or purchase the energy they need directly. This is in contrast to the traditional method wherein customers purchase solar panels at full price up-front, which can be quite expensive.
The project is already underway in Hawaii at Honolulu’s Hickam Air Force Base. When completed, that stage of the project alone will power 2,000 homes, the company claims.
From there, the project will expand to Nevada, Kentucky, California and Texas and will include installing solar panels on the rooftops of many other non-residences, including military community centers, administrative offices, maintenance buildings and storage warehouses.
According to the company’s website, five-year-old SolarCity now serves 15,000 customers. In June, the SolarCity announced it had entered into a partnership with Google to create a $280 million fund for residential solar projects, which the companies touted as the nation’s largest.
Of course, as good as the deal might be for SolarCity, coming as it does in the wake of the bankruptcy and FBI raid of Solyndra – the flagship solar company to receive a DOE loan guarantee, and a half-billion dollar one at that, the news has already attracted criticism from conservative bloggers.
Still, as if anticipating the criticism, Tim Newell, managing director of the U.S. Renewables Group, noted that all of the financing was private and that the DOE only provided a guarantee in order to reduce the loan costs.
Interestingly, the one party that has remained conspicuously silent on the development is the one responsible for the contract in the first place: The U.S. military.
The military has expressed an increasing interest in solar and renewable technologies lately, with several different initiatives announced across the U.S. Navy and Army. The Navy has even been investigating the ergonomic and weight-saving benefits of supplying solar-powered equipment for bomb squads, as Idea Lab reported in August.
We’ve reached out to the Defense Department for comment and further information on the project and will update when we receive a response.
