CO Renewable is all for solar power but there seems to be a bit of disconnect between the following article and a few basic facts.
First of all, inverters do not produce power - a power inverter converts DC power or direct current to standard AC power or alternating current so the current can be used to power standard appliances, lights and the like. So no, “PV Powered’s solar inverter is [not] providing the convention with three to four homes worth of power” but rather it’s converting the power already generated by solar panels.
The second apparent disconnect is the claim that PV Powered is “scrambling now just to build the products we are getting orders for” when just a few days ago PV Powered announced that they were laying off less than 10 employees (out of about 60) due to a decrease in demand for their inverters.
Nonetheless, CO Renewable is pleased that PV Powered had the opportunity to be involved with Barack’s campaign and that he Obama campaign walked the walk of the Democratic Party Platform and utilized renewable energy for their convention. Unfortunately it’s not surprising that the Republicans have not been as proactive as the Democrats.” CO Renewable believes that it will take a bipartisian approach to solve the energy challenges this country faces.
# # #
Bend solar firm helps power Democrats’ convention
Role follows Barack Obama’s visit to PV Powered
By Deanne Goodman – KTVZ.com – August 28, 2008
You see a lot of red, white and blue at political gatherings, but this week’s convention in Denver is going green. The Pepsi Center was using solar power, thanks in part to PV Powered in Bend.
The 30-kilowatt solar inverter has been offsetting the amount of energy used at the Democratic National Convention. Renewable energy is a hot topic at the convention, and this may be the first time a convention of that size has used alternative energy, including solar.
We asked PV Powered CEO Gregg Patterson if he believes the Republican National Convention now has the pressure to follow suit?
“We haven’t heard anything yet, but we have advocates on both the Republican and Democratic sides,” he said Thursday. “But the Republicans have not been as proactive as the Democrats.”
PV Powered’s solar inverter is providing the convention with three to four homes worth of power, a few months after now-Democratic nominee Barack Obama paid a visit before his speech in Bend.
“It’s pretty exciting news,” said Steve Hummel, vice president of engineering, “Did we ever think Barack would come here and visit us personally? We were excited, and now this seems like a good fit, and I think there are bigger and better things in our future.”
Patterson agrees: “This is part of a series of high-profile jobs we’ve landed. We just turned on a system at Nike headquarters in Beaverton. We are scrambling now just to build the products we are getting orders for. “
Employees at PV Powered would have liked to see their product in use at the DNC, but they are too busy building more of the devices, since they are in such high demand.
Patterson also works to spread the word, having spoken on a panel at Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s energy summit, held Wednesday – held at Nike’s Beaverton-area campus.
