Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of the day that gained infamy as 9/11. It’s a day darkened by terrorism and is the scarred origins of two wars being fought by U.S. soldiers. It’s also a day that may have helped foster more energy independence for the U.S. and the world. It’s evident week by week, but there’s still a far way to go before humanity is unshackled from fossil fuels.

It’s kind of ironic that the U.S. Department of Defense, the largest consumer of energy in the world and the agency tasked with securing U.S. safety, has been forced to rely on some of the most unstable areas of the world, like those it’s fighting in, in the Middle East. But the military is changing where it gets its energy from. For instance, the Department of Energy issued a $340 million loan-guarantee to SolarCity, U.S. Renewables Group Renewable Finance and Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s $1 billion SolarStrong project. The project will seek to install solar on 160,000 military base homes for service members.

That follows news that the Navy’s Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific signed contracts to own power from up to $500 million of installations in Hawaii. However, the projects are not required to use U.S.-made photovoltaics or mounting equipment. The government won’t own the systems directly. They are being installed by third-parties under power-purchase agreements. Under most power-purchase agreements, system users pay less for the electricity produced than they currently do for grid-supplied electricity.

Solar markets are continuing to grow and change. Lux Research’s Solar Demand Forecaster found that New Jersey and Portugal are currently the best markets for investors to invest in based on internal rates of return. New Jersey was rated the most favorable followed by Portugal, Australia, Italy and India, in that order.

As always, advances in technology and new ways to use solar are occuring. Last week was no exception. The DOE announced a new, $13 million SunShot Initiative to Owens Corning Roofing and Solexel to develop affordable, building-integrated photovoltaics.

Research into nanowires is promising to develop low-cost photovoltaics that use earth-abundant materials like copper, rather than rarer materials like cadmium. A team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, led by Professor Peidong Yang, has developed a method of manufacturing of such devices in normal atmospheric conditions as opposed to high-temperature, vacuum conditions. Within a year the research has produced photovoltaic devices capable of 5.4 percent conversion efficiency.

Michigan State University Professor Syed Hashsham and his fellows are developing a Gene-Z, a medical diagnostic tool that’s about the size of an iPad that can be charged by the sun. The device, which can detect early signs of cancer via genetic markers, is being developed for use in nations with rural populations that have limited access to medical clinics.

In what’s likely a world’s first, a photovoltaic plant is being built to supplement the production of a geothermal power plant. A 24-megawatt photovoltaic array is being installed at Enel Green Power North America’s Stillwater Geothermal Plant in Churchill County, Nev. The solar plant will help the geothermal plant meet its requirements under a power-purchase agreement with NV Energy.

The movement for community solar in the U.S. continues to grow, particularly in Colorado. Last week Colorado Springs, home of the U.S. Air Force Academy, got it’s first taste of solar gardens with a proposal from SunShare Co., which plans to install a solar community garden in the local utility’s service area. However, the size of the garden has yet to be determined.

There are plenty of athletic rivalries among colleges and universities, but now there seems to be a greener rivalry, and Arizona State University and its Sun Devils are leading the pack, at least in terms of solar. At present it has 10 megawatts of power coming from photovoltaic installations on its campuses and by the end of 2011. That number will jump to 15 megawatts. Somebody’s got some catching up to do.