The 46 Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (AMXS) has confirmed that it will be fitting solar panels which they hope will produce around 50% of the squadrons power requirements.

"The installers have confirmed that they will save somewhere around 70,000kw of electricity, will save more than 300 trees and prevent about 150000 pounds of carbon emissions", writes nwfdailynews. This is a huge chunk of electricity and think of how much can be saved elsewhere if large companies and corporations were given strict minimum guidelines of how much renewable energy they had to use as well.

This is also being completed thanks to a federal grant and they will also be getting a solar trailer and solar lighting for remote areas of the squadron as part of it. This all comes as part of the Defense Departments goals to reduce energy consumption by at least 20% by 2015. Further plans are ahead for the base which will also look into replacing bulbs with LED lighting and other measures, and the current plans are due to be completed by September.

Other air force bases are making similar attempts at using renewable energy which can only be a good thing in the long run. Solar lights are relatively simple and work much like normal street or garden lights, except they have a small solar panel fitted on the top of them, and stores energy in an internal battery during the day. At night time, the lights automatically come on and are efficient enough to last even when the nights are longer.

If solar panels are good enough for the Airforce, they are good enough for the home, right?

The following solar lights are available to buy

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