The renewable energy program in SLAF has been initiated under the directives by the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana to find in-house solutions to the prevailing energy crisis. A committee comprising Command Research and Development Officer, Group Captain Chandimal Hettiarachchi, Staff Officer Technical to Commander, Group Captain Kolitha Abeysinghe, Commanding Officer Research and Development Wing SLAF Base Katunayake, Group Captain Malitha Kumarage, Commanding Officer Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Wing, Group Captain Krishantha Hewapathirana, Officer Commanding Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Wing, Wing Commander Anil Hathurusinghe were appointed to undertake the renewable energy programme in the SLAF.  

As the first phase of the project “Installation of a 5kW Solar System at Main Guard Room, SLAF Base Katunayake” was officially commissioned yesterday (23 August 2022) by Base Commander SLAF Base Katunayake, Air Commodore Lasitha Sumanaweera. A total of 8.13kWh, which is approximately 66.3% of the energy consumption of the Main Guard Room per day, can be obtained through the newly installed solar system in facilitating the Guard Room functions. The solar panels available without any effective utilization in the SLAF were re-used for the Solar System which leads to save more than 0.7 Million Rupees in comparison to the cost of provisioning 5kW Solar System from the outside.

The system has been commissioned keeping provisions for further improvements to meet future power demands.