If you’ve ever driven by the Pentagon, home of the US military and just across the Potomac River from the National Mall in Washington, DC, you may have noticed the gigantic parking lots. These lots cover 67 acres and have 8,769 parking spaces. The Pentagon itself houses 24,000 military service members and employees. Most certainly they consume vast amounts of electricity for lights, computers, and the heating/cooling (HVAC) system.
Since the climate crisis is one of the largest upcoming threats to military security, the US military has made a commitment to seriously reduce its use of fossil fuels. Wouldn’t it make sense to start by covering the Pentagon and its parking lots with solar photovoltaic panels?
Office buildings like the Pentagon tend to have a usage pattern that closely matches the electricity produced by the sun as it passes overhead so they are ideal consumers of solar power. Also, by siting the panels directly next to their use, the need to transport the generated power long distances is eliminated. Moreover, if the solar power, from panels mounted on overhead racks, could be fed to electric vehicle chargers below, Pentagon workers could charge up their cars while they are at work, also taking advantage of peak sunlight during the middle of the day.
Solarizing the Pentagon would be a very visible model for managers of office buildings and parking lots everywhere for how to upgrade to green energy.
The General Services Administration is in charge of all of the federal government’s buildings. Maybe it is time to encourage them to solarize the Pentagon sooner rather than later.