Sanyo Announces New PV Manufacturing Plant in US
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
SANYO North America Corporation, a subsidiary of the Tokyo-based SANYO Electric Co., announced plans on Monday to construct a new solar component plant in Salem, Oregon. The facility, set to open in October 2009, will produce silicon ingots and wafers, the major component in conventional solar cells, and will create over 200 new green jobs. Slated to cost $80 million in development and construction, the plant will more than triple the company’s overall US photovoltaic production from 30 MW to 100 MW once fully operational by April 2010; for comparison, the cumulative US output for PV production in 2007 was 201 MW, 31% greater than in 2006. As high demand for solar panels is currently outstripping supply, this greater production capacity should help to lower retail costs across the global market.
The announcement is yet more evidence that Oregon’s incentive programs for renewable business seem to be working. Thanks to the state’s Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC), which provides tax breaks of up to 50% on capital investments of up to $20 million for renewable energy projects, solar manufacturers are moving there in relative droves. SANYO joins three other companies that shifted their operations to Oregon last year alone - German-based SolarWorld, and Solaicx and Peak Sun Silicon, both of California. All in all, a study released this past spring by ECONorthwest projects that the two energy tax credit programs combined (the Residential Energy Tax Credit program being the other) would “create nearly 2,100 new jobs, boost economic output by $178 million and cut energy costs by $60 million” over the next fifteen years.
The factory will join SANYO’s Carson, CA manufacturing plant and expansion at other production facilities in Japan, Hungary and Mexico to boost the company’s expected PV output to 340 MW globally by the end of 2008 and 600 MW by 2010. Among its other solar ventures, in 1997 SANYO introduced its highly efficient HIT (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer) solar cells, which combine single crystalline cells with amorphous silicon to achieve an impressive 20% conversion efficiency rating. Also check out SANYO’s Solar Ark in Japan, the world’s largest solar-generating structure and a state-of-the-art science center.
Sources: press release (us.sanyo.com); Oregon Department of Energy; “Oregon Welcomes Yet Another Solar Maker, Sanyo”, earth2Tech;“Economic Impacts of Oregon Energy Tax Credit Programs in 2006″, ECONorthwest; “SB 819 Passes Out of House Committee by unanimous vote”, Pacific Northwest Energy and Sustainability Venture blog;“Sanyo to Build Solar Cell Plant in Oregon”, GoodCleanTech; “Sanyo chooses Oregon site for new solar PV ingot, wafer factory”, Photovoltaics International; “Solar Manufacturing Takes Flight in the United States”, US Department of Energy, EERE News; “Big Photovoltaic Price Drop Due to Large Silicon Supplies?”, FuturePundit; “PV Status Report 2007″, EU Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability; “Japan’s Sanyo to Build New US Plant”, AFP wire report.
Posted in Energy, Energy Efficiency, Green Building, Green Collar Jobs, Photovoltaics, Renewables, Sustainability | Permalink
Urban Farmer Wins “Genius” Award
Friday, September 26th, 2008
For an accomplished and lucky few, Christmas comes in September.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced the winners of its annual “genius grants” this week. The selection is notable for its stimulating eclecticism; this year’s roster includes a plant evolutionary geneticist, an architectural preservationist, a Mesoamerican anthropologist, a traditional basketweaver, a medical historian and a stage lighting designer, in addition to the regular litany of artists, musicians and writers. Also new to this club of the talented, passionate and committed is Wisconsin urban farmer Will Allen.
Since 1993, Allen has been simultaneously developing groundbreaking, sustainable agricultural techniques while providing invaluable community service in the form of educational programs and affordable food for low-income urban populations in Milwaukee, Chicago and other locations in the upper midwestern United States. Co-founder of the Milwaukee-based non-profit Growing Power, Allen eschews the “back to the land” philosophy prevalent in the sustainable agriculture movement for the cultivation of small but efficient urban plots and a vertical business model that includes grassroots distribution networks. His approach also addresses issues of health awareness and diet with a focus on the prevention of obesity and diabetes, conditions known to afflict low-income communities in particular. (For an entirely unrelated but equally current story on the effects of obesity and fast-food diet on children’s health, click here.) Allen’s innovative farming techniques include “use of raised beds, aquaculture, vermiculture and heating greenhouses through composting”, all of which attempt to maximize yield in limited space - generally the only space available in urban locations - while keeping energy use and other costs at a mimimum.
The fellowships - awarded by the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation since 1981 - are accompanied by a $500,000 stipend with “no strings attached”. Nominees are selected by an independent panel and are unaware of their consideration until notified. One of this year’s grantees, John Ochsendorf of MIT’s architecture department, exclaimed, “I had to sit down… It changes everything. This is validation.” Notes MacArthur Foundation President Jonathan Fanton, “Generally there’s a pause and expressions of disbelief. I’ve had people drop the phone or say they need a minute because they feel weak.”
So when that phone rings next September, it may be best to answer sitting down. The holidays just might arrive a few months early…
Sources: “MacArthur Foundation awards 2008 ‘genius grants’”, Associated Press; “Urban Farmer’s Work Honored”, Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal; “Fast Food Hits Mediterranean; a Diet Succumbs”, New York Times; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation website (www.macfound.org); Growing Power website (www.growingpower.org); African American Environmentalist Association website (aaenvironment.blogspot.com)
Posted in Food, Green Collar Jobs, Technology | Permalink
Solar One and MCHS Mentioned in NYT City Room Blog Today!
Thursday, September 11th, 2008
In today’s New York Times, the City Room blog talks about the possibilities of Green Collar jobs and why they’d be so good for the city. Solar One Advocacy Coordinator Chris Neidl is interviewed and talks about the local nature of solar jobs and building retrofitting. They also mentioned the solar installation class he taught last spring at Manhattan Comprehensive- the same kids who made up the very successful I Heart PV Street Team.
Posted in Education, Green Collar Jobs, S1 in the News | Permalink
