Solar Power? When talking about the cost to wage a war, one thinks of weapons, planes, tanks and ammunition, but we often underestimate the impact on this cost represented by fuel used to move heavy and light vehicles, or to run the power generators that provide electricity to areas where soldiers are quartered.
In addition, the costs incurred to get the fuel to the war zones can be astronomical: it was calculated that every single American soldier in Afghanistan uses an average of 22 gallons of fuel per day, at a cost (including transport), which varies between 300 and 400 dollars per gallon. Try to multiply this by the number of soldiers and the duration of the war, and you have a vague idea of how much money is being spent.
How Solar Power is used in war zones to save cost?
To save on this cost, U.S. forces are conducting an experiment on a battalion that will soon be deployed to Afghanistan with a range of equipment powered entirely by solar energy, allowing fuel savings of up to 50 percent.
The system that provides this solar power energy was christened GREENS (Ground Expeditionary Renewable Energy System) and is equipped with solar power panels that collect the energy needed to run generators that provide an output of approximately 300 watts.
Another significant cost is represented by the transport of purified drinking water. So far, all attempts to purify water on site, thus saving on transportation, have failed. The department that deals with the research on solar panels is trying to find a way to use that power to purify the water available locally, thus being able to cut costs further.