The Vermont Air National Guard (VTANG) will harness the sun’s energy to power the Air National Guard F-16 Squadron Fighter Wing in South Burlington, Vermont, cutting the facility’s electricity usage by 40%, an annual savings of $225,000.

The Guard insisted on a contractor capable of engineering multiple arrays while overcoming various site challenges when designing and installing this $8.5 million project, funded by federal dollars earmarked by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

“It is appropriate this project is located at our Vermont National Guard base, because as much as anyone, our military service members understand the critical importance of breaking our dependence on foreign oil and moving our nation to energy independence,” said Sanders.

Versatility and ability to maximize available space in the engineering process, while paying close attention to detail under specific design and time line demands are reasons why groSolar was selected as the contractor.

The total project consists of fixed, ground-mount and tracker arrays totaling 1.42 MW,  and a fixed rooftop array consisting of 31.85 kW. The installations are on the north side of the base, clearly visible from Burlington International Airport’s tarmac.  Construction began April 11, 2011, and finished on schedule in December 2011.

“Every detail was mapped out to specific requirements, from site work, to conduit runs, to the landscaping,” said Jeff Wolfe, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors, groSolar.  “This project truly exemplifies groSolar’s commitment to excellence in commercial solar engineering, product procurement and construction.  Our nimbleness and ability to design and install three different types of applications in a single project, while maintaining such high standards, has resulted a nice looking project, which will save VTANG millions of dollars over the next several decades.”

groSolar, a commercial solar integrator, with megawatt+ jobs in seven states, is headquartered in Vermont. This project is not only employing its own staff, but also providing jobs for dozens of other subcontractors and their employees.

VTANG is committed to significantly reducing the base’s utility costs, improving energy security and demonstrating the effectiveness of three different applications of solar power generation at an Air National Guard base.