Here and Now (NPR) just did a story on how the military is using solar power, right now, to provide electricity for remote bases and soldiers on the field. The military's adoption of solar power is providing the scale that solar companies need to improve manufacturing needs and drive additional R&D.
The initial motivation is that it reduces the stress on their energy (read: oil) supply chain, but they've found that adopting solar is also cutting down on the number of batteries each soldier has to carry to power the gadgets that have become part of modern warfare.
China's gov wanted to be #1 in solar and their factories were undercutting Evergreen solar so it was either move the factory or go bankrupt. My uncle worked at the factory and while he doesn't like it (he lost his job) he agrees with the reasons.
The initial motivation is that it reduces the stress on their energy (read: oil) supply chain, but they've found that adopting solar is also cutting down on the number of batteries each soldier has to carry to power the gadgets that have become part of modern warfare.
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2011/06/06/military-solar-power (the meat of the story is actually in the audio, the text is just a brief summary)