Major Solar Cell Manufacturer...in Oregon!

[aviken]

XsunX Expands Efforts to Secure Oregon Financial Incentives and Supply Statewide Burgeoning Renewable Energy Initiatives..

http://www.xsunx.com/news.aspx?news=118

Would be sweet to have solar panels actually manufactured so close to us...hopefully they would be available at a better price - at least little to know freight!

[StorminN]

You should also check out Silicon Energy... they're a division of Outback Power Systems, based in Arlington, WA.

They're supposed to start selling WA made PV panels sometime soon (last Fall, I heard this Summer). Once this happens, if you're grid-tied and have both WA-made PV panels and a WA-made grid tied inverter (currently, only the Outback ones are) you can maximize your WA State PV production incentive at $0.54 per kWh.

-Norm.

[aviken]

I am aware of the incentives to purchase Washington produced solar panels...so this company will be the first one huh? Lucky them! They actually need to be manufactured here I understand...so they have a facility in Arlington / up north for this? I'll check them out for sure. Thanks Norm.

[StorminN]

From what I heard, (and this is from memory, so it's probably not be 100% accurate)... the guys at Outback bought a used PV panel assembly line from a Norwegian company... REC or REI, something like that. The Norwegian company sources their silicon from eastern WA and then assembles their panels in Sweden, because the EU has the same sort of incentives, and Sweden is in the EU and Norway is not.

Anyhoo, the Norwegian company outgrew this assembly line, so the guys at Outback bought it and set it up in their old building in Arlington, and started the Silicon Energy company, to assemble panels. Last Fall, I had heard that they made some test panels, and were hoping to ship in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2008, but I haven't heard an update since then.

-Norm.

[aviken]

Yeah, I don't see any mentions of it on their (Outback) web site. Only something about a bloomin' onion...

Seriously, I did check the Outback site, and searched on Silicon Energy, but only found an outdated article (from last year) promising they would have panels this year sometime...no real new news (that I could find in 5 minutes of googling).

[StorminN]

aviken,

I assume the article you're talking about is this one.

I found a newer article, but you need a subscription - view it here

I also found a one-page web site for Silicon Energy, it says "Available in Washington in Late 2008"

... and from Whidbey Wind & Sun's website:
"Stalking the Elusive Washington-made Modules
In spite of sleuthing worthy of James Bond, we've not been able to get a spec sheet on the long-awaited Washington-made PV modules. We can tell you a few things with some degree of confidence.

1. The panels will be 4' x 4' and rated at between 180 and 190 watts.
2. According to the Silicon Energy website, the panels will be available in 'late 2008'.
3. Demand will almost certainly exceed supply.
4. Silicon Energy will require deposits to secure a client's position in the waiting queue.

To prepare for the eventual appearance of Silicon Energy's panels, we're compiling a waiting list. We'll need your name, phone number or other contact information, and the size of system you're anticipating. We will add you to the list first-come, first-served. We are not taking deposits right now, but we will need to as soon as Silicon Energy requires. You can visit the Silicon Energy website, but you won't find much there just yet."

[aviken]

Looks like Silicon Energy is Hiring: http://solargoldmine.com/solar-energy-jobs/solar-process-engineering-technician-in-arlington-wa/
http://jobs.renewableenergyworld.com/careers/jobsearch/detail/jobId/11704827/viewType/rss

This is good news. Yeah, I snooped the site a little, but found nothing hidden (like a web site in the making). I'm not hack, I just tried some common file paths & check for links in and out and also googles cache.

Well, this is a good thing, and yes there will likely be more demand than supply...but hopefully if they start shipping panels in late 2008, they are hitting the "slow" period...winter months (I am guessing that folks don't think about solar panels as much in the winter...)

[EV59rag]

any news on this thread?