Solar panel project first to receive Yuma stimulus

The first of $6.4 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the stimulus package, is making its way to Yuma this summer in the form of solar paneling for a building at the Marine Corps Air Station.

On June 18, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest awarded the $391,139 contract to Syska Hennessy Group Construction Inc. It in turn has subcontracted Yuma Solar, a local company, to provide labor for the project.

The solar paneling, fixed to the top of Building 233, will generate up to 38 kilowatts of power a day, enough to power about eight average-sized homes a day, said Ron Durfey, station Installation and Logistics energy manager.

That power will then be transferred into and used in Building 234, which houses the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13 ground services equipment section.

Yuma Solar plans to begin construction, which will last 10 days or less, in early September, said Becky Slaughter, Yuma Solar corporate officer.

Four solar roofing projects have already been completed on station. The solar efforts are in response to the Department of Defense’s mandate that at least 25 percent of energy used on military installations be from renewable sources by 2025.

“There is definitely an emphasis on energy conservation,” said Durfey. “The government has set the goals very high for where we need to be in terms of our use of renewable energy in the next 20 years. Every project we do is a step in that direction.”

The solar installation contract is the first awarded in a series of stimulus-funded station improvements to come.

Stimulus money will also fund several construction projects on station, including air conditioning unit repairs, repairs to the ordnance access road and sanitary sewage system, as well as funding for geothermal energy exploration in the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, said Durfey.

Dates for the start of these projects have not been announced.

The $787 billion stimulus package was signed into law Feb. 17 by President Obama, in hopes of jumpstarting the floundering national economy. Arizona military installations are slated to receive $62 million, with $7.5 million planned for Yuma Proving Ground.