Ohio ANG expands 180th solar field

By Capt. Gary Bentley
Ohio National Guard

(1/5/10) - The 180th Fighter Wing announced further expansion of its highly successful alternative energy solar field here at the Air National Guard Base Jan. 5. Rep. Marcy Kaptur joined Col. Mark Bartman, the 180th commander, and other unit members and guests to celebrate the fourth phase expansion of what was already the largest solar field in Ohio and the largest on any National Guard base in the country.

The expansion is expected to increase the solar power produced to a total of about 1.2 megawatts, or 37 percent of the base’s electrical needs, said Lt. Col. William Giezie, 180th Civil Engineering Squadron commander.

Development and construction of the solar field began in 2006 when Kaptur obtained Department of Defense Research and Development Testing and Engineering funds for the base to develop a renewable energy site.

Giezie said after extensive evaluation of the available technology combined with the environmental conditions found in Northwest Ohio, they determined that a cadmium telluride thin film semi-conductor would produce the greatest quantity of electricity with the low and diffuse light conditions present in the Toledo area.

These factors led to contracts with several Northwest Ohio companies, including Rudolph Libbe Inc., Advanced Distribution Generation, Romanoff Electric and First Solar.

More than 95 percent of the major components, technology and labor used to produce the solar field has been developed, produced and constructed by the citizens of Northwest Ohio, Bartman said. “The 180th Fighter Wing is a community-based organization and its members are proud of the solar field and of being good stewards of the environment,” Bartman said.

In 2008, Kaptur and Bartman pulled a symbolic electrical switch to officially open the solar field as guests while visitors cheered. Since its inception, the field has produced a total of 827 megawatt-hours or 21 percent of the base’s total electrical requirements.

In less than two years, the base has saved about $140,000 in electricity costs, and the hope is to fill the remainder of the 10-acre site with more solar panels and to put solar panels on rooftops, Bartman said.

The wing also has plans to convert many of its current vehicles from gasoline to electric power to take further advantage of its increasing production of solar power and purchase vehicles that operate on biodiesel fuel.

In addition to using alternative forms of energy, the 180th is committed to reducing its overall energy usage, Bartman said.

“We have upgraded boiler systems to high efficiency modulating units in 9 of our buildings and have installed high efficiency LED lighting around the base,” he said.

Kaptur said the 180th’s solar field is “a model for our nation.”