Solar Powered Airport Hangar

Hangar at night - solar power during the day

A few days ago, the airport announced that the rooftop of Hangar 25 is now covered with solar panels.  The panels cover approximately 60,000 square feet and generate enough electricity to power the lights, forklifts, plug-in vehicles and more!

I love the Bob Hope Airport!  No, its not because of the new solar powered airport hangar.  Rather, my favorite cousins have lived in Burbank my entire life.  When I think of Burbank, California, it bring back memories of visiting my cousins whom I rarely see but enjoy so much when we get together.

Here we are… coming in for a landing in Burbank:

As reported in the Los Angeles Times earlier this week, the conversion of Hangar 25 to solar energy is a huge milestone.  The airline industry is known for having a huge carbon footprint.  However, powering up lights and more through a solar powered airport hangar can help many breathe a bit easier.  In fact, the maintenance of a huge Boeing 737 can be entirely completed with solar power!  In a noteworthy quote, Steve Howards of the Clean Airport Partnership had this to say about the Burbank Airport:

“I haven’t heard of anything like it before. “A facility that generates enough renewable power to support [aircraft] maintenance equipment? That’s a precedent setter.”

The solar powered airport hangar cost about $17 million and is a joint-venture, public-private partnership between Shangri-La Construction, Avjet Corporation and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.  Amazingly, Hangar 25 has been awarded LEED-platinum status.  Plus, regardless of the cost of construction, the overall energy savings for solar-powered buildings will pay off fairly quickly.  Just knowing that they are making less of an environmental impact is enough for some people to go green.

WIth Hangar 25 paving the way towards green airport operations, some are wondering whether there will be more solar powered airport hangars constructed in the future.  My guess is… yes!  Even if we are still not able to address the huge energy costs associated with flying planes, we can significantly cut back emissions while they are on the ground.  That’s enough to get me flying high about solar powered airport hangars, and related energy efficient projects

Tags: bob hope airport, burbank california, solar powered airport hangar