Calif. solar company looks to military

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SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A California solar energy system provider says it will double its number of rooftop installations by setting up 160,000 sun-powered systems on military bases.

San Mateo company SolarCity says its five-year, $1 billion project will put rooftop solar installations in 124 military housing developments in 33 states, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

The company said it hopes to hire and train veterans and relatives of service members to install and maintain the systems.

The first batch of installations is underway at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, intended to supply electricity to 2,000 military homes.

In June, Google Inc. invested in SolarCity to the tune of $280 million to pay for installations and maintenance costs in exchange for a percentage of customer electricity payments, the Times reported.