REC Solar, a solar electric system provider, has secured six new federal projects totaling 9.1MW, including five from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and one from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, and two utility projects.

The contracts require REC Solar to design and install five solar arrays on VA hospitals in California, Arizona and Florida, located on roof, ground or carport-mounted arrays and tailored to each location and a ground-mounted system in the greater Los Angeles area for the USDA Forest Service.

The utility projects, on the other hand, will include the construction of a 1.1MW ground-mounted array for a municipal utility in Hayward and a 1.21MW array for interconnection to the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative grid in Kapaa, Hawaii.

REC Solar expects to complete the projects by December 2011 for the government agencies that are increasingly dedicating funds and resources to solar projects to combat volatile energy prices from conventional energy sources and achieve ambitious energy efficiency goals.

REC Solar CEO Angiolo Laviziano said that this latest pipeline of government contracts demonstrates that REC Solar has solidified itself as the solar provider federal agencies and municipal utilities count on.

“With more than 20MW awarded by government agencies to date, we have proven that REC Solar consistently exceeds the most stringent standards and expectations,” Laviziano said.