Chinese Startup Selects Eugene

Chinese startup based in Eugene wants to sell inexpensive solar panels in U.S.
by Amy Hsuan –  The Oregonian - July 09, 2009

A Chinese startup vying for a piece of the U.S. solar market has landed in Eugene, hoping to become a national player in the state’s growing photovoltaic industry.

Centron Solar, whose Web site went live Thursday morning, is moving fast to sell and distribute bargain-priced solar panels made in China to the U.S. market, expected to be the world’s next big solar player.

But the company didn’t even have a name until last month. It leased its Eugene headquarters and 25,000-square-foot warehouse within two weeks. Its first shipment of solar panels, worth $1 million, arrived from China just five days ago.

The company, the brainchild of Eugene resident Ocean Yuan, is moving so fast that it caught state economic development officials — and potential competitor SolarWorld — by surprise.

Chinese Solar Consortium to Put Sales Hub in Eugene

Chinese group plans local solar panel hub
Centron Solar’s planned sales site and assembly lines eventually could bring several hundred jobs to Eugene
By Sherri Buri McDonald – The Register-Guard – July 9, 2009

A consortium of 30 Chinese companies in the solar panel industry is setting up a U.S. sales hub in Eugene, the group’s president, Ocean Yuan, told The Register-Guard on Wednesday.

The group, named Centron Solar, has leased a 25,000-square-foot warehouse in west Eugene, has 10 high-level managers on board and has ambitious plans to grow to 200 to 300 employees in a year, Yuan said.

The group probably also will set up one or two solar panel assembly lines in Eugene, creating about 50 “green” jobs. Those positions would pay about $20 an hour, including benefits, he said.

The group’s members — mature manufacturers with proven technologies — have banded together to serve the vast potential market for affordable solar panels in the United States, Yuan said.

“Instead of coming in here by themselves and confusing the market with company names that the average American can’t even pronounce, we decided to combine forces and create an easy-to-pronounce, easy-to-remember name, which is Centron Solar,” Yuan said.