The closest most people will ever get to the sun is in an airplane, so there’s a certain symmetry to airports harnessing solar energy to power some of their operations. A 2020 study by the University of Colorado found that 20% of public airports in the United States adopted solar panels in some capacity during the previous decade. The work continues today as more properties and airport authorities install solar projects.
One of the latest is Iowa City Municipal Airport in Iowa City, Iowa. In January, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it would receive $442,800 from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to finance a solar panel project. According to a press release on the Iowa City Government website, the funding is part of a larger FAA program that will issue more than $240 million in infrastructure grants nationwide.
Photo Courtesy Iowa City Government
The grant money for Iowa City Municipal Airport will be used to install a solar project to offset the electrical energy required to operate the runway, terminal, and building lighting. It will feature a solar array of more than 300 panels and should cut the site’s electrical utility costs by about 50%, Michael Tharp, airport manager, told the (Iowa City) Gazette.
According to the press release, bidding for the solar project was expected to begin in March, with the contract being awarded a month later and construction to follow soon after.
“This is something that the airport has wanted to do for a number of years now — we didn’t have the financing to be able to do it,” Tharp said to the Gazette. “The funding in the bill gave us essentially the financing to be able to pull it off.”
Iowa City Municipal Airport already gets some funding under the infrastructure law, which has gone toward a study examining space needs for the terminal building.
The Gazette reported the $442,800 solar project award is based on an estimate by Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, an airport design consultant company. According to Tharp, the airport asked the consultants to conduct a preliminary study to determine the amount of energy the solar panels needed to generate.
Photo Courtesy CMT
The FAA’s latest disbursement in its grant program, announced on Jan. 30, includes nearly $244 million in funding for 150 grants in 37 states to modernize airport infrastructure, improve runway safety, and create jobs.
In a press release, the U.S. DOT said funding inconsistencies over the last decade have “delayed the ability to modernize technology and infrastructure that support the airspace.” The grants aim to reverse that trend.
“Collectively, these grants help airports across the nation make timely improvements to key critical infrastructure, which ensures passengers have a safe, efficient, and enjoyable experience as they travel,” Shannetta Griffin, P.E., FAA associate administrator for airports, said in a statement.
Photo Courtesy Denver Int’l Airport
The Iowa City solar project follows similar initiatives at other airports around the country, including the following:
- Denver International Airport: A 2021 article from the Solar Tribune reported that since 2008, Denver International has installed more than 42,600 solar panels across 56 acres. Projects underway at the time were expected to bring the airport’s total solar capacity to 34 megawatts.
- John F. Kennedy International Airport: The $9.5 billion New Terminal One at the New York City airport will be partly powered by a microgrid with more than 11 megawatts of power from rooftop solar, gas fuel cells, and battery storage, Business Insider reported last year.
- Newark Liberty International Airport: According to a report from NJ Biz, this site’s six-story parking garage at the new Terminal A is the largest solar-powered building at any U.S. airport. After only two months of operation, the solar system has already generated 1 gigawatt-hour of power.
- Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport: In 2019, Chattanooga’s airport became the first in the country to produce all the energy it needs through a solar farm, according to the AFAR website. Its 12-acre, 2.64-megawatt solar installation, featuring 10,000 panels, was made possible by FAA grants.
