Solar firm given warm reception
With Lane County unemployment at 14.2 percent, the new business is greeted with mostly open arms
By Sherri Buri McDonald – The Register-Guard – July 10, 2009

It’s not the leap that Portland and Salem took into the solar industry by landing major solar panel manufacturers. But a Chinese consortium’s plans to set up a hub here for solar panel sales in the United States could be Eugene’s first step into this emerging industry, said Desari Strader, executive director of the Oregon Solar Energy Industries Association.

“I know there’s another (solar) company kicking tires down there, as well,” she said.

Ocean Yuan is president of Centron Solar, a consortium of 30 Chinese solar businesses eager to gain a foothold in the potentially vast U.S. market.

Yuan told The Register-Guard on Wednesday that Centron Solar had leased a warehouse in west Eugene, assembled a management team of about 10 executives, and planned to hire up to 250 or 350 people in a year. About 200 to 300 of the positions would be “traditional white-collar jobs,” he said, and about 50 would be “green jobs,” assembling solar modules, or panels, for about $20 an hour, including benefits.

He said the consortium did not plan to set up major manufacturing or assembly operations in Eugene. Instead, the group plans to site assembly shops in multiple U.S. cities, closer to customers.

Centron Solar is moving quickly. It set up shop in Eugene two weeks ago, and on Thursday it launched its Web site, which listed seven open positions, including business development directors, technical support engineers and customer service representatives.

In the past year, Lane County has had a string of layoffs, including 1,000 jobs at the former Hynix computer-chip plant in west Eugene, and more than 2,000 jobs at local RV manufacturers.

“(Centron Solar) is certainly going to have a lot of people applying for those jobs,” said Brian Rooney, a labor economist with the state Employment Department.

Even if the consortium creates 200 to 300 jobs, however, it wouldn’t have much impact on the county’s unemployment rate, Rooney said. That rate stood at a seasonally adjusted 14.2 percent in May.

“But at this point any kind of job with decent pay, and especially benefits, will help those individuals” who are looking for work, he said.

The mere mention of hundreds of jobs had Raquel Tucker, assistant branch manager of Selectemp, a Springfield staffing service, attempting to contact Centron Solar on Thursday.

“We’re interested in helping them (with their hiring),” she said.

Chinese firms big on solar industry

Yuan, a ’93 business graduate from the University of Oregon, previously served as president of Solarfun Power USA and as global vice president of Smith & Associates, a semiconductor distribution company, according to Centron Solar’s Web site. Details on the other members of the consortium were not available on Thursday.

Chinese companies have made a big push into the solar panel market and now produce half of the world’s solar panels, Yuan said.

The Chinese manufacturers “have a very strong commitment,” said Jack Roberts, executive director of the Lane Metro Partnership, a local economic development agency. “They have a lot of resources … They’re making a very big play.”

Lane Metro Partnership helped Centron Solar secure the site they’re leasing in west Eugene, Roberts said. No incentives are involved, he said.

“In the hierarchy of solar, you have distribution, assembly and manufacturing,” Roberts said. “Manufacturing is obviously the holy grail,” as far as employment, pay scale, overall investment and the tax base, he said. “Whether these guys will be able to make a larger contribution in the distribution — if they get to 200 jobs it would be great — but we’re kind of working with them to see what happens.”

Other solar companies have expressed interest in Eugene, Roberts said.

“We’d like to get some companies involved in solar interested in working here, whether in distribution or assembly, with an eye eventually to the Hynix location for the manufacturing side,” he said. “That may not happen in one step.”

Hynix initially said it was looking at all possibilities for its shuttered plant: using it itself, using it in partnership with another company, or selling it to another company.

Now, Hynix’s goal is to sell the site, said Bobby Lee, the company’s Eugene spokesman. That could change, however, depending on the market, he said.

The burning question about Centron Solar is whether its direct sales approach will be successful.

The consortium plans to sell directly to solar panel installers, skipping the middle man, thereby lowering the cost.

“That model of selling direct makes some sense,” and it has worked for companies such as Amazon.com, Roberts said. “Fortunately, the way (Centron Solar) is doing it, it doesn’t look like there’s a large upfront investment to carry if things go bad.”

Local installers have mixed feelings

Local solar installers had mixed feelings about Centron Solar’s plans.

Steve Musser, renewables department manager at the Green Store in Eugene, said that Yuan dropped by the store a couple of weeks ago, and they established a good rapport.

Buying panels direct from the manufacturer could reduce prices by 30 percent to 40 percent, Musser said. That’s significant, he said, because the panels usually account for more than half the cost of the solar project.

Musser said he had mixed feelings about buying direct because he has relied on five or six distributors for years. However, he said, “I believe that bringing the cost down by going direct is very beneficial to society and would allow a lot more people to install solar, so I think that is the more important issue. We need to get the panels out there in the field making electricity as soon as possible and as much as possible.”

Musser added that if he does end up buying some panels direct, he’ll still support his distributors as much as possible.

Jim Wilcox, sales and marketing director at Solar Assist, another Eugene solar installer, said he hadn’t yet met anyone at Centron Solar.

He said he wants to learn more about the company and is excited about the possibility of more local solar industry jobs.

“We want to make sure the consumers are well protected by the company,” Wilcox said. “Solar panels generally have a 25-year warranty, so you want to make sure the company is reputable, and they can stand behind the 25-year warranty.

“We want to sit down and meet with them and discuss their products,” he said. “We’ll also do some querying within the industry itself, checking the background of the principals. One of the nice things about the solar industry is it’s a tight-knit group of people who are interested in protecting the integrity of the industry.”

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.

“Honestly, this was news to us,” said Tim McCabe, director of the Oregon Business Development Department, who learned about the company’s launch on Thursday. “If it’s true what I’ve heard, it’s an exciting prospect.”

With a mission to sell solar energy at $1 a watt within a few years, Centron represents the unconventional — and aggressive — tactics of Chinese companies, now driving competition in nearly all sectors of manufacturing.

The company, currently with 10 employees, plans to sell panels directly to installers, cutting out the middlemen. Although the bulk of its manufacturing will remain in China, it plans to build several assembly plants across the country within the next couple of years, including one in Eugene, which will be home to a customer-support division. By early next year, the company expects to have between 200 to 300 employees.
“We’re moving at lightning speed,” said Yuan, a former executive for Solarfun, a major Chinese solar manufacturer, who was born in China and moved to Eugene 20 years ago. “We are so excited to get this off the ground.”

Chinese manufacturers are hungry to enter the U.S., which is expected to follow Europe’s lead in solar energy in the coming years. They are able to produce solar panels at lower costs than Americans or Europeans because of their low wages. And Centron promises that it can beat any price by at least 10 percent.

“Our mission is very clear, we want to make solar panels so cheap that 80 percent of American households can use it without subsidies,” Yuan said.

In the solar industry, lowering costs for solar panels has become a race to get to grid parity, the point at which solar can produce power to compete with conventional fossil fuels. It’s typically been pegged at about $1 a watt, though it’s higher in some areas.

Centron, despite being a newcomer to Oregon and the U.S., hopes to challenge SolarWorld and Sanyo, both now in Oregon. The company has already contacted 25,000 installers nationwide, Yuan said.

SolarWorld opened the United States’ largest solar plant on a 100-acre Hillsboro campus last fall, putting Oregon on the map. The company, with a strong reputation in the industry, is one of the older solar manufacturers.

Competition, says spokesman Ben Santarris, is everywhere and Centron’s foray into the U.S. may not make much of a difference.

“From our standpoint, we already have a lot of competition,” Santarris said. “We’ll have to see how big they are and how they operate. If it’s good for Oregon, it’s good for us. “

So far, Centron has gotten to where it is so quickly by doing everything unconventionally. Centron isn’t vertically integrated like other big solar companies such as SolarWorld. It’s horizontally integrated, Yuan said.

The modules sold in the U.S. are put together by 30 different companies in the solar hub of China, located in or near Jiangsu province on the outskirts of Shanghai. The companies specialize in manufacturing different components of a solar panel, from converting silicon to manufacturing cells.

They are assembled and then sold in the U.S. under the Centron brand, which was specifically created for the U.S. market with the help of Springfield-based marketing firm Polaris.

Yuan, 46, is an entrepreneur with experience in Chinese factories and the solar industry. In March, he left his two-year post as president of U.S. operations of Solarfun, one of China’s largest solar manufacturers, to pursue his own venture. By then, he already had a good idea of what he wanted to do: sell quality solar panels to Americans at extremely low prices.

A former English teacher from a rural province, Yuan moved to the U.S. after meeting a Eugene woman traveling in China. They married in 1990, and he received his degree in business and finance from the University of Oregon, going to work initially importing and exporting antique Chinese replicas.

“I came to the States in 1990, wanting to make millions,” Yuan said. “But I found the limited English I learned in China didn’t even work at a grocery store.”

Yuan worked his way to becoming the general manager of large Chinese factories making electronic components for companies such as Motorola. After moving to Shenzhen for eight years, he decided he missed the U.S. When the job offer from Solarfun allowed him to relocate, he moved back to Eugene.

With Centron, Yuan set about putting together a business model that cut out distributors in order to lower retail prices. Former Intel engineers helped him design the specifications for the modules. Then he went back to China this spring to find the companies who could make the panels with the specifications and quality he desired. The companies, he found, were thrilled at the opportunity to sell to the U.S.

“Instead of all these companies coming to the U.S. to compete independently,” Yuan said, “we decided to try to do something completely new.”

Centron’s leap into Oregon causes some to question its sky-high ambitions. And as a newcomer, it will take time to build a trusted brand and it will face perceptions that China’s cheap prices equal poor quality.

Bob Warren, business development officer for the state’s Business Oregon in Lane County, said he met with Yuan and some Chinese representatives several months ago and at the time they had yet to form a concrete plan.

Centron didn’t ask the state for any tax incentives or grants in their startup, though if they locate a manufacturing facility in Eugene, they could qualify.

“Really, we don’t know what’s real here and what’s not real,” Warren said. “It doesn’t look to me in the immediate future there are manufacturing jobs.”

Already, Centron has given samples of its panels to some installers, including the state’s largest solar contractor and designer Advanced Energy Systems, which is currently testing them.

“We’re doing a comparative analysis with all the best equipment in the world,” said Chad Biasi, a business development consultant with AES. “But they absolutely have a chance. Our market is just beginning.”

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.

Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy said she had met with the group’s representatives a couple of times, but hadn’t spoken with them recently.

Of course, we’re very interested in solar,” she said. “We believe it’s right for Eugene and right for our community energy goals.”

Piercy said that if Centron Solar does end up creating hundreds of jobs in Eugene, “it would be terrific. It would be wonderful. We’ve been really trying to encourage solar development here.”

A couple of other solar businesses besides Centron Solar have expressed interest in Eugene, Piercy said. “We’ve been following all the leads we get.”

Solar panel manufacture uses technologies similar to semiconductor manufacture. When Hynix closed its computer-chip plant in west Eugene last year, eliminating 1,000 jobs, it set off speculation that a solar manufacturer might take up residence there.

Yuan said his group looked at the former Hynix plant in March.

“The problem is it’s too clean,” he said. “We don’t need the cleanest of clean rooms for solar panel manufacture. The (cost of) maintenance and everything else is too high.”

Centron Solar moved into its Eugene facility at 4723 Pacific Ave., off Danebo Avenue, two weeks ago, and is storing solar panels there, Yuan said. “We’re already running out of space,” Yuan said. “We’re already eyeing the office complex in front of Hynix,” referring to the Westec Business Park.

Centron Solar plans to revolutionize the way solar panels are sold in the United States, he said.

“Our business model is different from anybody else in the solar business,” Yuan said. “We sell directly to installers, rather than going through distributors, so that keeps the cost lower.

“We want to make solar panels so cheap that 80 percent of American families can afford to use them and save electricity for the next 20 to 30 years.”

Financial details of the consortium’s plans were not disclosed.

The companies in the consortium already make solar panels in China, Yuan said.

“China produces over 50 percent of the world’s solar panels, but 90 percent (of them) are shipped to Europe,” he said. Only 5 percent of the solar panels in the U.S. market are produced in China, Yuan said.

The consortium would continue to make the panels in China, but “our vision is to establish multiple assembly shops around the nation in key U.S. areas,” he said.

Centron Solar probably would not site a large assembly plant in Eugene because it is not a major solar market, Yuan said.

“We want to build our manufacturing facilities closer to the customer,” he said.

The consortium has, however, chosen Eugene as “an ideal place for our foothold to establish a logistics center in the United States,” Yuan said. He said Eugene is strategically located along the I-5 corridor to serve the West Coast.

Yuan is not a newcomer to Eugene. He graduated from the University of Oregon’s Lundquist School of Business in 1993.

Greg Evans, a local educator, consultant and Lane Transit District board member, said he met Yuan when Yuan was a UO student, and the men have been friends for 20 years.

“This is very legitimate. Trust me,” Evans said.

“They’re the real deal.”

Evans said he has no financial interest in Centron Solar but that he is a consultant for the group in government affairs.

Centron Solar plans to formally announce its launch at the InterSolar 2009 trade show next week in San Francisco.

The following quote found in the article says it all.

If an Intel Corp. or a large solar panel manufacturer were to decide it wanted to locate a manufacturing plant in Bend with its current sewer and water capacity, the city would not be able to accommodate the company, said Roger Lee, the executive director for Economic Development for Central Oregon, which promotes growth in the region.

# # #

Bend’s future growth could be hindered by insufficient infrastructure
By Jeff McDonald - The Bulletin – May 1, 2009

The global recession will eventually turn around, but Bend’s pressing road, sewer and water needs could pose a more long-term problem if efforts to update them are not successful, economic development and city officials say.

Many systems are in need of upgrades and expansions after years of rapid growth, according to business groups, who say they’re working with city leaders to address the issue.

If an Intel Corp. or a large solar panel manufacturer were to decide it wanted to locate a manufacturing plant in Bend with its current sewer and water capacity, the city would not be able to accommodate the company, said Roger Lee, the executive director for Economic Development for Central Oregon, which promotes growth in the region.

“We are not ready,” Lee said about the potential to recruit a large utilities user like Intel or some renewable energy companies. “It has become very clear for a lot of (recruitment) projects that we have looked at in the last 12 months.”

With nearly 15 percent seasonally adjusted unemployment and a recession that has cut a broad swath across nearly all of Central Oregon’s major industries, the future development of Bend could depend on making sewer and water improvements, said Bill Robie, the governmental affairs director for the Central Oregon Association of Realtors.

Who will pay for the systems needed? Robie says it’s too early to tell.

But he believes a combination of local government and federal stimulus dollars will be necessary.

“From our perspective, these are the fundamental issues that our local government should be spending money on,” Robie said. “You can have the debate about the bus system, but there is no question if we don’t have the roads, sewer and water, we are not going to be able to grow in a sustainable fashion.”

About $500 million in improvements need to be made to the city’s roads, water and sewer systems to meet capacity for the next 20 years, said Tom Hickmann, utilities services division manager for the city.

About half that cost would be for water, wastewater and sewer improvements, which would have the most direct impact on existing business expansion and future growth, Hickmann said.

“Even if growth was at its peak, there would not be enough revenue,” Hickmann said.

Federal stimulus dollars could help — the city has applied for $12 million in grants and low-interest loans, he said.

But the biggest dent will be made through higher utility rates for both industrial and residential customers, Hickmann said.

Water rates increased 8.25 percent last fall, and the Bend City Council will decide whether to impose a 14.5 percent annual increase on sewer rates during the current budget session, Hickmann said.

Existing businesses looking to expand are facing challenges due to the city’s limited wastewater capacity.

Deschutes Brewery, which is considering expanding its brewing facilities located near the roundabout at Colorado and Simpson avenues, is restricted in that growth until either the brewery or the city can create more wastewater capacity, said Michael LaLonde, chief operating officer for the brewery.

The company could choose to build a new brewery closer to its future markets in the Midwest and Southeastern United States if wastewater issues with the city cannot be resolved, LaLonde said.

“We have to consider whether increased costs of wastewater expenditures (in Bend) make it worthwhile to do it here or in other locations,” LaLonde said.

The company is considering three options: whether to build its own wastewater treatment plant, partner with the city to build a new one, or improve the existing facility, LaLonde said.

“We are trying to work closely with the city to have a worthwhile benefit,” he said. “We can invest in some part of the infrastructure so they don’t have to and vice versa.”

Another business has seen its sewer costs increase significantly in the past 18 months.

“We are a big user of water here, and it is our obligation to make sure our water is clean as well,” said Steve Seefeldt, the general manager of Mission Linen Supply, an industrial launderer on First Street in Bend. “I realize the infrastructure isn’t really there in Bend. It’s old and antiquated. We all need to do our part financially and in other ways to help the city move forward.”

City staff will meet with a group of business leaders Monday at St. Charles Bend to kick off discussions about how to fund future utilities in Bend. The meeting is by invitation only, Robie said.

Why Doesn’t Central Oregon Have a Renewable Energy Zone?

Five Oregon and Washington counties that straddle the Columbia River have joined forces and become the Columbia Gorge Bi-State Renewable Energy Zone. Those counties are: Hood River, Sherman and Wasco Counties in Oregon and Klickitat, Sherman and Skamania Counties in Washington.

They claim that because it’s “centrally located in the Pacific Northwest, the Columbia Gorge is an ideal location for renewable energy production, manufacturing, and research. They go on to say that “The area offers qualities such as a broad inventory of industrial property, mutli-modal transportation, renewable energy technology training, a favorable business climate, and an unbelievable quality of life.” They go on to invite the reader to “explore the links above to learn about this world-class renewable energy region and opportunities to invest your business.  Including:

Workforce training – Affordable industrial lands – Quality of life
Favorable business climate – Multi-modal transportation”

Why Not Central Oregon?

Is there any reason why the counties of Central Oregon (Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson) couldn’t join forces and do the same?  It would be so easy to simply reword the above description/sales pitch to read:

Located in the heart of  Oregon, Central Oregon is an ideal location for renewable energy production, manufacturing, and research. The area offers qualities such as a broad inventory of industrial property, mutli-modal transportation, renewable energy technology training, a favorable business climate, and an unbelievable quality of life. Explore the links on our website to learn about this world-class renewable energy region and opportunities to invest your business. 

It should be noted that Central Oregon does have one county – Crook – that has a Rural Renewable Energy Development Zone designation.  Although that is an admirable effort much more could and should be done to establish Central Oregon – and all of its counties –  a leader in renewable energy development and education.

The first question that came to mind was why isn’t Central Oregon fighting to get these “unnamed” renewable energy businesses? Central Oregon has the same “cheap real estate” and “people hungry for jobs” as the area around Pendleton. Is Central Oregon missing the “Cowboy up!” attitude of the folks in Pendleton and La Grande?

The following is excerpts from the article.

# # #

Pendleton optimistic despite loss of RV plant
Several firms have shown interest in the site since Fleetwood announced its closure
By Richard Cockle – The Oregonian – March 31, 2009

The loss of a Fleetwood Travel Trailers of Oregon plant and its 253 jobs is bringing both pain and optimism to this Eastern Oregon rodeo and wheat town.

Sales clerk Mary Bonifer ran her fingers over a tooled leather belt in the Hamley & Co. store downtown while fretting about the idled workers and their families. She’s also worried about the impact of so many lost jobs on the rest of her town, population 16,830.

Still, a “Cowboy up!” attitude seems to pervade Pendleton, the home of the annual Pendleton Round-Up rodeo.

And there’s a chance that another manufacturer will move to the Fleetwood site. Within days of the company’s March 9 closure announcement, City Hall got at least 10 calls from distant corporations interested in Fleetwood’s two manufacturing buildings and 10 acres, said Tracy Bosen, economic development director for Pendleton.

“There are a lot of businesses that see these particular economic downturns as opportunities to relocate,” Bosen said. “Real estate is cheap, people are hungry for jobs, and cities and communities are willing to negotiate.”

The companies interested in Fleetwood’s buildings, which are just under 100,000 square feet each, include a wind turbine manufacturer, Bosen said, though he declined to name it. Eastern Oregon is fast becoming “wind turbine alley,” and the huge machines — many manufactured overseas — are going up by the hundreds around Pendleton, he said. “If there is a silver lining in this, a great facility has come open and it is available,” Bosen said.

Houk agreed, saying Pendleton is short on industrial space to attract outside companies. The Fleetwood site, he noted, is on flat ground that adjoins Interstate 84 and Union Pacific Railroad lines.

Fleetwood posted losses of $65.3 million in 2007 and $16.8 million last year. Even so, the closure announcement, in the midst of a national economic meltdown, was a shocker. It also left 162 workers jobless at a Fleetwood RV plant in La Grande, 50 miles to the east.

With green energy, Northwest can help itself
By Roger Ebbage – Register-Guard Guest Viewpoint – October 30, 2008

Opinion: Editorials & Letters:

As America confronts the current economic and energy crises, now is the time to invest in clean energy technologies that will build prosperity and fight global warming. Clean energy and climate solutions are the brightest prospect for driving economic recovery and sustaining long-term prosperity.

A recent report by the Political Economy Research Institute finds that investing in clean energy would create four times as many jobs as spending the same amount of money within the oil industry. Worldwide, $148 billion was invested in renewable energy and efficiency companies in 2007 — 60 percent more than in 2006.

Just this month, regional clean technology experts Clean Edge and Climate Solutions released Carbon Free Prosperity 2025, a report that shows the Northwest can generate more than 63,000 new family-supporting jobs by focusing on five clean technology areas: solar photovoltaic manufacturing, green building design, sustainable bioenergy, wind power and “smart-grid” technologies that improve the efficiency of our electric system and more easily integrate renewable energy. The Clean Edge report shows how the Pacific Northwest can seize a leadership role in the clean-tech economy.

Oregon is already on its way to emerging as a global leader for the clean energy revolution. We have eight wind farms, 13 significant solar installations and the country’s largest solar cell maker. The solar industry is growing by more than 30 percent a year with no indication of slowing down. Eugene’s Advanced Energy Systems specializes in the design of commercial solar electric systems and commercial solar water heating systems. SOLARC Architecture and Engineering, another Eugene-based firm, is creating more than $30 million worth of energy-efficient green building projects throughout the Northwest.

Green jobs are local jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. The green economy means weatherizing thousands of buildings, installing millions of solar panels, and erecting thousands of wind turbines. These jobs help Oregonians take control of our energy future so we’re less dependent on fossil fuels.

This clean energy revolution needs a trained work force, and I’m proud of how our work at Lane Community College is playing a role in the transition to a clean energy economy. LCC is an epicenter of energy efficiency and renewable energy technician training in the United States. Our Energy Management Program has expanded from a focus on residential energy efficiency to tackling the huge need for commercial energy conservation solutions.

LCC provides our nation’s only two-year Associate of Applied Science degree in commercial energy efficiency and is one of only several colleges to provide an AAS for renewable energy technicians. We plan to expand the program to incorporate a small scale wind power component as well.

Community colleges such as LCC are uniquely positioned to respond to openings in the clean energy job market. The fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy have ample room to grow because there are so many buildings in need of efficiency upgrades, and where renewable energy applications make sense.

At the state level, we support Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s climate change package. It will help jump-start Oregon’s economy, and will lead to tens of thousands of new Oregon jobs as we manufacture and grow energy in Oregon; retrofit our homes and businesses to save energy, and create new carbon-reducing products.

With the election just days away, we want to send a bold and loud message to our elected leaders that we want them to make climate and energy solutions a priority. Mayor Kitty Piercy should be applauded for her leadership, and we must urge our other leaders — city councils, state legislators, and Congress — to truly embrace the urgency of climate disruption, and the promise of solutions.

We commend Sen. Ron Wyden for cosponsoring the Climate Security Act, and we look forward to stronger climate policy initiatives with a new president and Congress. We strongly urge Sen. Gordon Smith, if he’s re-elected, or Jeff Merkley, if he’s elected, to cosponsor legislation on the scale of what science says is needed (80 percent reductions in global warming emissions by 2050). Smith has not yet done this. We are paying attention to where our leaders stand on climate and clean energy as we go to the polls.

The most forward-thinking people in the world are recognizing the promise of a new clean energy economy. Oregon has everything to gain, and our children are counting on us.

======

Roger Ebbage has been the director of Lane Community College’s energy management and renewable energy programs since 1992. He has been involved in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industry since 1980 and teaches workshops nationally and internationally.

The three newspaper articles below clearly report that, although generous incentives were major selling points, other key reasons for Sanyo Solar of Oregon to build their plant near Salem were “relatively cheap power and a good, affordable work force”.  Bend / Central Oregon can claim the same advantages.

Sanyo chose about 20 acres of vacant city-owned property at 5475 Gaffin Road SE for its new plant. Salem wants to turn 79 acres along Gaffin Road into a renewable energy and technology park.

City and economic development officials hope the solar cell plant will encourage other energy companies and their suppliers to locate here.  At a special meeting of Salem City Council , councilors approved a ground lease and purchase agreement with Sanyo for the Gaffin Road location. Sanyo will pay about $1.74 million for the 19.77 acres.

Councilors also signed off on enterprise zone tax breaks for Sanyo, which provide tax abatement on new construction and equipment. They agreed to extend the standard three-year enterprise zone tax break to five years.

# # #

City aims to become hub in green jobs
By Michael Rose – Statesman Journal – September 26, 2008
With the help of taxpayers, Salem has landed an important new employer.

Tax breaks and other economic incentives helped expedite Sanyo Solar of Oregon’s $80 million solar-cell manufacturing plant. On Thursday, the company’s plans to build a factory on 5475 Gaffin Road SE became public. The company is part of Sanyo Electric Co., a Japan-based corporation.

Those involved with recruiting Sanyo say providing incentives is a good trade-off for what Salem is getting: an internationally known company that could attract similar high-tech employers.

“This is the kind of thing that grows more jobs,” Salem Mayor Janet Taylor said.

Through tax breaks, land write-downs, grants and other methods, the city, county and state are spending at least $2 million to help Sanyo locate in Salem.

It’s worth it, officials said, because the factory will return much more to the area: an estimated $7.8 million in annual payroll.

The 19.77-acre Sanyo site is a portion of a 79-acre city-owned property. City leaders are attempting to turn the Gaffin Road location into a renewable energy and technology park. Since 1992, the area has been in Salem’s enterprise zone, which provides tax abatement on new construction and equipment.

Phase one of Sanyo’s two-phase project could be done by fall 2009; the second phase is expected to be completed in 2010.

The mayor views it as good news for Salem’s city budget.

“Good jobs mean people buy houses; they spend money in stores,” Taylor said. “All of that keeps property taxes not only stable but growing.”

To qualify for the enterprise zone tax break and several other incentives, Sanyo pledged to maintain an average salary and benefit package of $50,000 per worker and employ a minimum of 200 people for five years, a city report stated. Another condition for the enterprise zone tax break: Sanyo must consider hiring qualified employees from the local area.

“They are required to at least consider them. They are not required to hire anyone,” said Ray Burstedt, president of the the Strategic Economic Development Corp., better known as SEDCOR.

SEDCOR and city officials negotiated with Sanyo for more than a year in confidential meetings. Sanyo’s interest in Salem was publically disclosed at Thursday’s special city council meeting.

Lottery dollars sweetened the deal for Sanyo.

Marion County provided a $300,000 grant over three years from its allocation of state lottery funds. Sanyo can use the money to defray costs of transporting equipment to Salem, Burstedt said.

Meanwhile, the Mid-Valley Council of Governments provided $25,000 from lottery funds for workforce training.

In addition, state funds from the governor’s office will pay up to $1,427 per Sanyo employee for training provided by Chemeketa Community College, Burstedt said.

Salem and the state teamed up to provide more incentives, said Salem Urban Development Director Rick Scott.

The city applied for a $540,000 state grant for infrastructure to support development at the Gaffin Road site, Scott said. City coffers will contribute an additional $500,000 for water and sewer improvements on Gaffin Road, he said.

Salem agreed to reduce the land price by $500,000 — another incentive tied to Sanyo’s pledge to employ at least 200 people for five years. And the city waived a $180,000 sewer and water connection fee for the factory.

“These are very good paying jobs. It’s a Fortune 100 company, and we think there is nothing really bad that could come of this,” Scott said.

Sanyo officials declined to comment on the project after Thursday’s council meeting but later e-mailed a response.

The company’s California factory is operating at full capacity, and the company needed a new location to expand its production, said Akihiko Oiwa, a Sanyo spokesman, in the e-mail.

The state’s workforce was a plus, the company spokesman said. Workers with past experience in Oregon’s semiconductor industry have skills Sanyo needs for its solar cell plant, which will produce silicon ingots and slice them into wafers.

Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit was another positive for the state, Oiwa noted.

Part of the state’s emphasis on attracting renewable energy industries, the incentive provides a tax credit that is up to half of the energy facility’s cost. If issued, the tax credit is claimed over five years.

The tax credit has made Oregon known internationally in the solar industry as a place to do business.

“The state has seen solar energy companies as a fast-growing industry, and they have been doing a lot of recruiting,” said Salem City Manager Linda Norris. “I think that is how Oregon and Salem became noticed.”

# # #

Tax incentives, other goodies help lure Sanyo to Oregon
by Richard Read, The Oregonian – September 26, 2008

State officials welcomed a Japanese company’s announcement Friday that it will build a solar factory in Salem, while acknowledging that Oregon taxpayers could end up paying half the plant’s $80 million cost.

Sanyo Electric Co.’s solar plant could tap up to $40 million of renewable-energy tax credits in two years under an incentive expanded during the Legislature’s special session this year. State and local governments have promised a basket of other goodies for the factory, which is expected to employ 200 people. Together the subsidies could total more than $200,000 per job.

Sanyo is well worth the public investment, said Mike Grainey, Oregon Energy Department director.
“We see this as a shot in the arm for the entire mid-Willamette Valley,” Grainey said. “We’re expecting, based on conversations we’ve had with them, they will expand this facility over time.”

Grainey said officials are in serious discussions with at least a half-dozen more solar companies considering Oregon. One company, Grainey said, could make its decision within a month or so.

Oregon officials led by Gov. Ted Kulongoski aim to make the state a solar-manufacturing hub, in stiff competition with other states. During this year’s legislative session, lawmakers doubled the amount of project costs, to $40 million, that are eligible for 50 percent tax credits on renewable-energy plants.

Under the Business Energy Tax Credit program — known as BETC, familiarly pronounced “Betsy” — a manufacturer such as Sanyo can apply during one calendar year to receive a $20 million credit over five years. The next year, Sanyo managers could apply for an additional $20 million credit toward a second phase, if the project met eligibility tests.

“They have talked to us about multiple phases,” Grainey said.

Sanyo will break ground next week for the factory, which will make ingots and wafers for solar cells. As currently conceived, Grainey said, the plant could possibly qualify for two $20 million credits. The Legislature added a list of conditions for the credits, which companies can resell for one-third face value to receive cash up front.

Salem officials said Friday that Sanyo planned a first phase employing 118 to begin manufacturing next fall. They expect a second phase to go on line in 2010. The company, which will build on a 20-acre site, also has first rights for additional city-owned land in its anchor role at the Salem Renewable Energy and Technology Park.

Incentives, as well as relatively cheap power and a good, affordable work force, certainly helped attract Sanyo, said Akihiko Oiwa, a spokesman for the company’s North American division. “Public incentives are good support for the company,” Oiwa said.

In addition to the potential tax credits, Sanyo will get discounted land, road improvements worth $1 million, worker training, a Marion County grant for equipment and a five-year exemption on property taxes for its plant and machinery. The company can also apply for federal tax credits, which Congress appears poised to renew.

The city and the state got a great deal, said Ray Burstedt, president of Sedcor, an economic-development organization for Marion and Polk counties. Salem will break even on the property-tax exemption after the factory’s seventh year, he said, not even counting the economic boost of wages paid workers.

Incentives come with so-called clawback provisions that require companies to pay back subsidies if they fail to employ promised numbers of workers at higher-than-average wages for an agreed period.

“Every single grant, loan or incentive that is coming from us or the city, it all has clawback provisions,” said Nathan Buehler, spokesman for the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department. The agency led months of secret negotiations to land the Sanyo plant, code-named Project Ark.

Oregon has already attracted several solar manufacturers including Germany’s SolarWorld, which will open its Hillsboro factory next month. Sanyo ranks behind SolarWorld as the world’s eighth-largest solar-cell producer, according to Photon International magazine.

Sanyo managers predicted the 861,000-square-foot Salem plant will be able to produce material each year capable of generating 70 megawatts of power once it reaches full operation in April 2010.

Sanyo also makes ingots and wafers in Carson, Calif., shipping them to Japan, where solar cells are made. The company uses the cells to make solar modules, or panels, in Japan, Mexico and Hungary.

Salem officials expressed excitement about landing the plant during economic hard times.

“It’s pretty amazing, particularly as you read the headlines of the day,” City Councilor Chuck Bennett said, “that we’re looking at adding jobs and this kind of economic expansion.”

# # #

Oregon Welcomes Yet Another Solar Maker, Sanyo
by Celeste LeCompte – earth2tech – September 24, 2008

Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) has done it again: SANYO North America said today that it will build a new $80-million, 70MW solar manufacturing facility in Salem, Oregon. Construction is slated to begin next month and the plant is expected to open in October 2009, ramping up to full capacity by April 2010.

Talk about a successful tax incentive. The BETC, whose provisions offer renewable energy companies, among other things, tax credits for up to 50 percent of capital investments of as much as $20 million, helped attract three other solar manufacturers to the state in 2007. German SolarWorld kicked off the trend in March of that year, moving its production a matter of miles from Vancouver, Washington, to Hillsboro, Ore., to take advantage of the tax perks. SolarWorld was joined by Santa Clara, California-based Solaicx in June 2007 and by Carlsbad, California-based Peak Sun Silicon the following November.

SANYO says that while the BETC did play a role in its decision, the state’s reputation as hub for a diverse range of semiconductor companies was a factor as well. With a developed industry, the company can expect to find a suitable, and often already trained, workforce for its new plant. SANYO says its new facility will bring 200 new permanent jobs to the state when operating at full capacity.

Job growth is a key reason that the state has poured it’s support behind the BETC and its sister program, that Residential Energy Tax Credit. In a study of credits allocated in 2006, ECONorthwest found that over the next 15 years projects would create nearly 2,100 new jobs, boost economic output by $178 million and cut energy costs by $60 million.

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.

Unfortunately PV Powered suggested not that many months ago that they anticipated the possibility of a workforce of up to 600. 

# # #

Bend Solar Industry Takes Hit From Congressional Inaction
By Ethan Lindsey – OPB News – August 18, 2008

Bend and Central Oregon boast of 300 days of sun per year. That number is unconfirmed, but the sunny weather has led to the growth of a burgeoning solar industry.

Now several of the region’s biggest solar companies are struggling — and they blame the federal government – and one has laid off some of its workers.

In May, Barack Obama stopped by to praise Bend-based PV Powered.

But now, chief executive Gregg Patterson says he had to lay off some of his company’s 60 employees – fewer than 10 workers. 

Patterson says a program that helped people switch to solar is in jeopardy.

The 30 percent Federal investment tax credit is set to expire in December.

Gregg Patterson: “I find it horribly ironic and paradoxical that at the same time we are struggling with energy independence, that the Congress and the current Administration can’t solve this issue.”

Mike Hewitt’s company, E2Powered, installs solar equipment.

He says the looming deadline has actually helped his sales – as people try to get in under the wire.

But Hewitt worries about the long-term.

The solar industry estimates it could lose $19 billion if it does expire.

Congress could pass the credit next month – but may wait until a new Administration takes over.