A NASA flight facility in Wallops Island, Virginia, has broken ground on a solar array project that is expected to meet at least 80% of the site’s electrical consumption and save as much as $3.1 million in energy costs. The savings-funded solar renewable energy project from Ameresco will help NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) reduce its carbon output by more than 4,310 metric tons per year, the renewable energy company says.

The project includes $14 million in renewable energy and infrastructure improvements. It will provide more than $537,000 in first-year energy cost savings; in future years, solar output combined with energy conservation measures are expected to allow for $3.1 million in energy cost savings. Because the partnership between NASA WFF and Ameresco is an energy savings performance contract (ESPC), the flight facility will accrue no upfront costs. Instead, through the ESPC, it will fund the project through energy cost savings derived from the solar installation.

The project will include ground-mounted solar panels installed near NASA WFF’s airfield as well as carport-canopy panels.

WFF director Dave Pierce says the project is significant because it not only creates a renewable source of energy for the facility in the near-term, it also lays the foundation for the energy generated onsite to contribute to the region’s existing energy grid in the future. “The installation of a solar field in such close proximity to a critical airspace is a rarity,” he adds, “and our project serves as a model to other similar facilities that it is possible to install a meaningful solar farm that will greatly reduce carbon output, even with limited real estate.”