MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. -- New ideas and innovations for gathering and efficiently producing electricity have been a key focus for large energy corporations and their consumers for years.
One of their largest consumers, the United States military, has recently become a platform for pilot programs designed to test the viability of new alternatives to line-fed sources.
Recently, MCLB Barstow began participating in these pilot studies by testing alternative power and transportation solutions provided by experimenting companies, some of which at no cost to the government.
One such experiment being conducted here is the operation of stand-alone solar powered streetlights. The base Environmental Division purchased 25 of the lights from SOL, an outdoor solar lighting company in Florida, for approximately $4,500 per light.
"It is our intention to find out how capable and how suitable this particular lighting method is," said Jack Stormo, head of the base Environmental Division. "So far, we haven't had any difficulties."
Constructed with ultra-light weight carbon fiber material, Stormo, with the assistance of just one colleague, was able to quickly install the first light outside their offices to increase the safety of the parking area during the dim evening hours.
"Some of the lights are being installed at security locations, and some are being installed for added safety where poor lighting in the evenings poses a safety problem," Stormo said.
According to Stormo, more lights are also being put in locations where solutions are temporarily needed to supplement the loss of light, due to the malfunction of line-fed poles, while repairs are in progress.
"It should work out well," said Stormo, "because we are in the best location, from a latitude standpoint, to be very efficient at collecting solar energy."
The lights are distinctive to the eye, casting white light as opposed to yellow light, and require little assembly or maintenance.
"From an installation and logistics standpoint, the solar streetlights provide a lot more flexibility then normal streetlights," said Cmdr. Jeff Johnston, director of Public Works. "When you need to install a new normal streetlight, there are considerations to be made with respect to the entire grid, wiring and placement of the light. With the solar lights you just dig a hole and plop it in."
According to Stormo, the base was also given approximately 25 electric cars from Global Electric Motors as a part of another pilot study being conducted by the Daimler-Chrysler subsidiary to see how suitable they are for this particular application. The cars were issued to various sections around the base to replace or supplement the use of their gasoline-operated vehicles.
"In the few months the cars have been in operation on this base we have had very few mechanical problems with them," said Stormo.
To power the Environmental Division's electric car, they have employed another experimental device known as a Solar Pod. The pod consists of a photovoltaic panel on top of a plastic container that holds the energy-collecting batteries. Similar to the streetlight, the only difference is the ability to access the energy during the daytime hours directly from the panels.
"The Solar Pod came to us as a separate device to try out," said Stormo. "It is a stand-alone energy collector that produces a normal outlet voltage so that you could run any normal electronic device."
As a portable source of normal electricity, the pods are especially useful for recharging the electric vehicles, according to Johnston.
"If the security measures of the base call for vehicles to be parked a certain distance from a building, the pod can simply be picked up by forklift and moved," said Johnston. "The other options left available for providing those vehicles with power are far less efficient."
According to Stormo, these pods have been used in abundant success in places such as Central Africa, where it is not feasible to run line, to give some of the people there the ability to run simple electronic devices. Items like computers, microwaves, or a simple light could not be used regularly without the use of batteries prior to the use of the pods.
Both the streetlights and the Solar Pod collect energy by collecting the sun's energy onto a photovoltaic panel. Photovoltaics are solar cells that produce electricity directly from sunlight. They are usually made of silicon - the same material that makes up the common beach sand of Florida's coast. The cells are wafer-thin circles or rectangles, about three to four inches across.
According to solarenergy.com, solar cells operate according to what is called the photovoltaic effect, ("photo"-light, "voltaic"-electricity). In the photovoltaic effect, "bullets" of sunlight-photons-striking the surface of semi-conductor material such as silicon, liberate electrons from the material's atoms. Certain chemicals added to the material's composition help establish a path for the freed electrons. This creates an electrical current. Through the photovoltaic effect, a typical four-inch silicon solar cell produces about one watt of direct current electricity.
Though solar energy seems promising according to Stormo, environmental also has future plans for another experimental energy producing pilot program involving the conversion of wastewater from the water treatment plant nearby into energy producing hydrogen.
Though this new program may be far off, the current solar energy program being conducted by the base environmental division is promising to shine a new light on electricity sources in the future of MCLB Barstow.