SOLAR SPRINGS FORWARD THIS FALL

They’re calling it Oregon's "silicon forest."

From the point in 2007 when Oregon’s Legislature extended the state’s Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC), nicknamed Betsy, to solar energy industry manufacturers, the state has closed deals to bring in 6 solar plant projects. It expects to add 2,000 solar energy industry manufacturing jobs even as the rest of the country flounders economically.

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon): "When we talk about solar energy, our state is not always the first place people think of…But when you are talking about climate and solar energy, it's the business climate that counts."

This is a strong indication of the accuracy of the research findings predicting the recent 8-year extension of the federal investment tax credits for solar energy builders will create 440,000 jobs and $230+ billion in investments.

Ron Pernick, co-founder, research group Clean Edge: "Those nations that have really succeeded with solar have made a long-term commitment…Now, the U.S. is back in the game."

click to enlarge

Solar cell plant to open in Oregon
October 17, 2008 (AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
and
German company to open U.S. solar cell plant
October 18, 2008 (AP via International Herald Tribune)

WHO
Ted Kulongoski, Governor, Oregon; SolarWorld (Frank Asbeck, founder and Jennifer Cloer,spokeswoman); Sanyo; Clean Edge (Ron Pernick, co-founder)

WHAT
SolarWorld will open a $440 million solar cell manufacturing plant in Oregon, the biggest such facility in North America and the most recent of 6 announced New Energy manufacturing facilities to be built in the state.

click to enlarge

WHEN
- 2007: The Oregon Legislature made solar energy manufacturers eligible for the state’s Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC).
- The last 18 months: Oregon has made deals for 6 New Energy manufacturing facilities.
- October 2008: Sanyo broke ground on a solar cell plant.
- 2011: The plant will have 500 megawatts of manufacturing capacity online.
- 2015: Clean Edge research indicates solar energy-generated electricity will be cost competitive with electricity generated by older power-generating sources.

WHERE
- The SolarWorld plant will be in Hillsboro, Oregon.
- SolarWorld is based in Bonn, Germany.
- The Sanyo plant will be in Salem, Oregon.
- Clean Edge is based in Portland.

WHY
- The SolarWorld plant space is 480,000 square feet, presently has 250 employees will have 1,000 by 2011. It has a quarter-mile-long corridor for an automated line of machines that turn silicon into crystalline semiconductor materials for solar cells.
- Flawless cells are crucial to efficient performance. The plant’s interior is stark white and workers wear white lab coats, scrubs, hair nets and foot covers.
- Solar cells, 5-inch squares, manufactured in the Hillsboro plant will be shipped to a Camarillo, Calif., plant for assembly into solar panels.
- 1 kilowatt-capacity solar panels cost $5,000.
- SolarWorld saved 2 years by renovating a plant built by but never used by Japanese manufacturer Komatsu for semiconductor wafer manufacturing.
- Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC), nicknamed Betsy, has attracted the companies. Through it, SolarWorld has already earned $20 million.
- Oregon’s work force has talent developed by long-time resident Intel.

click to enlarge

QUOTES
- Frank Asbeck, founder, SolarWorld: "This is like my playing field…Our parents didn't buy us enough toys when we were little."
- Asbeck, on the plant’s antiseptic purity: "We have to have a very clean product…If you have impurities in there, then the product isn't any good."
- Asbeck, on the value purchased by spending $5,000 for a 1-kilowatt panel: "One kilowatt will give me the power I need for the next 30 years…Compare that with your car."