American energy provider SolarCity, with Australian property and development group Lend Lease, will mount 18,000 photovoltaic panels on military roofs in California and Colorado Springs under the second phase of the SolarStrong project which aims put up PV panels across 120,000 military homes.

This venture will provide solar power to more than 850 residences at three Air Force Base communities managed by Lend Lease, Tierra Vista in Los Angeles and Peterson AFB and Schriever AFB which are both in Colorado Springs.

This will help the U.S. military "reduce reliance on fossil fuels, promote a healthier environment and create good jobs for Americans, including many for veterans and military families," said Jonathan Plowe, head of new energy and infrastructure solutions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, one of the project financers.

When completed, the new installation is expected to produce up to 6.4 million kilowatt-hours per year while offsetting 30 to 60 percent of a typical household's energy consumption.

The SolarStrong project is a $1 billion, five-year plan that aims to transform the U.S. Defense Department from being the single largest electricity consumer in the country with so-called "zero energy military homes."

So far, this has been touted as the largest residential solar PV project in the U.S.

Currently, the U.S. military is aggressively pursuing reductions in its fossil fuel energy use with a goal of having 25 percent of its overall energy consumption derived from clean, alternative sources by 2025, according to SolarCity.

"We will have the energy we need to defend the American people [and] alternative fuels will be an important part of that future," said Sharon Burke, assistant secretary of defense for operational energy plans and programs, in a statement. – EcoSeed Staff