Oregon canal piping projects win stimulus funds
From KTVZ.COM news sources – August 20, 2009

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced Thursday that the Bureau of Reclamation has identified two Challenge Grant projects in Central Oregon that will receive a $3.3 million share of $40 million coming to Oregon under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  

Through the Challenge Grant Program’s Water Marketing and Efficiency Grants, Reclamation provides 50/50 cost share funding to states and irrigation and water districts for projects focused on water marketing, conservation and efficiency.  Projects are selected through a competitive process, based on their ability to meet the goal of improving sustainable water supplies in the western United States.  The projects include:

Main Canal Piping Project and Ponderosa Hydro plant, Swalley Irrigation District: $2,058,935 for this three stage/phase project that would complete piping of ¾ miles of canal, the design and construction of a 0.75 megawatt hydropower plant, and a solar telemetry project that would allow the District to use solar power for a system that monitors, measures and controls water.

Future is sunny for PV Powered
With new investment, it’s ready for major growth
By Andrew Moore – The Bulletin – June 05, 2009

Thanks to the extension of a crucial government tax credit and a recent multimillion-dollar investment, Bend’s PV Powered is ramping up for growth that could double or triple the company’s size in the next two years and firmly cement Central Oregon as a center for renewable-energy technology, according to CEO Gregg Patterson.

The privately held company, which manufactures electrical devices called inverters that are a critical component of solar energy systems, has recently hired a handful of workers and is likely to hire as many as 10 more in the coming weeks to handle growing demand for its products, Patterson said.

The company laid off several workers in the fall but is now up to 55 employees, the majority of whom work out of a roughly 100,000-square-foot plant in northeast Bend that used to be a lumber products factory. The company currently uses only a small portion of the facility for its engineering and assembly work but expects to grow into the building as demand dictates.

“The most optimistic market analyses say five times growth by 2011 in the U.S. solar market,” Patterson said. “We’re not ready to bet on that, but we’re very focused on managing our top and bottom line … investing when we need to and making sure we deliver great products with leading-edge technology. … I feel comfortable saying we will either double or triple by the end of next year.”

That growth bodes well for Central Oregon, as the region can capitalize on PV Powered’s presence to further diversify its economy, attract new companies with related renewable-energy technologies and provide the region much-needed jobs, said Roger Lee, executive director of Economic Development for Central Oregon.

Diversification is considered key to improving the economy in Central Oregon, where unemployment ranges from nearly 16 percent in Deschutes County to almost 20 percent in Crook County.

“As the strength and viability of these companies increases, it creates a situation where we can be more successful,” Lee said. “They can bring in their own supply chains and partnerships. … If you look at all the industries out there, the most exciting opportunities are the confluence of the renewable-energy industry and software. … Of all the sectors, we see this one as having the most promise, and its time has come.”

PV Powered makes inverters for residential and commercial solar energy systems. It is currently preparing for market a 260-kilowatt inverter that can process enough solar energy to power 50 homes, according to Steve Hummel, the company’s vice president of engineering.

A key to PV Powered’s inverters is embedded software that helps convert the direct current voltage gathered by solar panels into alternating current voltage that can be fed into the power grid for use at home and in industry.

Powering homes
A lot of the company’s recent business growth is thanks to the residential market, Patterson said. He cited two recent deals with multinational companies, including the Japanese conglomerate Kyocera, to supply them with inverters for inclusion in integrated solar energy modules distributed and sold by both companies.

In addition, Patterson said more homeowners are installing solar energy systems, partly due to the economy. While solar energy systems are still relatively expensive to purchase and install — generally more than $30,000 — Patterson said homeowners with cash are realizing that cheaper electric bills can provide a better return than some investments.

“Depending on the state and the (electric rate), a homeowner is guaranteed a 7 to 12 percent return, which is a lot better than a CD,” Patterson said.

Crucial to PV Powered’s growth, Patterson said, is the extension last fall of the federal solar investment tax credit that enables people and companies to deduct 30 percent of the purchase and installation costs of a solar energy system. As part of the $700 billion bailout bill passed last October, the credit was extended for eight years, and a $2,000 cap on the credit was eliminated. There is no cap with the new iteration of the credit.

Patterson said the company also is benefiting from provisions in the landmark federal stimulus bill passed in February, which created $6 billion in loan guarantees for commercial renewable-energy projects. Patterson said the loan guarantees are a way for companies interested in purchasing renewable-energy systems to access capital while credit markets remain tight.

A big investment
The company also is benefiting from a recent multimillion-dollar investment of debt and equity financing from a Vancouver, Wash.-based investment firm, Evans Renewable Holdings II LLC.

Mark Fleischauer, a principal of Evans as well as JH Kelly LLC, a Longview, Wash.-based industrial contractor, said Evans likes investing in renewable-energy companies, especially those in the Northwest that stand to provide substantial employment.

“Over the last 18 months, we’ve invested multimillions (in PV Powered) and now have committed more so they can fully reap the benefits of the stimulus package,” Fleischauer said. “We like their technology, we think they’ve got the best product on the market, have a tremendous management team and think they are very focused now on what they need to do to capitalize on the marketplace.”

Patterson, who came to PV Powered after a long career at Hewlett-Packard in its printer division, said PV Powered, founded in 2003, has historically been kept afloat by angel investors, including the Evans investors. The Evans investment puts the company on a more solid financial footing and will enable the company not only to grow but take market share from its competitors, Patterson said.

He said PV Powered is the nation’s largest inverter manufacturer and intends to maintain the position.

“(Evans has) a passion for renewable energy, and they decided they wanted to help this company grow, and we needed that financial strength,” Patterson said. “Customers have asked if we are going to be around because we’re a new player on the block, so it’s nice to have their financial backing.”

The Evans investment makes it the majority owner of PV Powered, and Fleischauer will serve as PV Powered’s chairman, Patterson said.

Clean-tech leader
Patterson declined to say if PV Powered is profitable but noted that the company has shipped more than 12,000 units since its inception.

Government mandates and incentives, along with surging public demand, have combined to make renewable energy one of the largest growth sectors in the world, Patterson said. His goal is to harness that demand and turn PV Powered into the region’s largest employer.

“I can believe (five times growth) is not irrational,” Patterson said. “The broader clean-technology sector will be the biggest macroeconomic growth sector in our lifetime — and Oregon has the opportunity to be a leader.”