Steve Reeves, CTO of PureSolar, Inc. will be talking to the E&P program at The Evergreen State College on Friday, February 8, from 3-5 pm. He’ll discuss the path to PureSolar, exploring real-world aspects of entrepreneurship. Attendees will walk away understanding the basics of PV systems and the manufacturing of PV modules, as well as key success steps of PureSolar and its history. PureSolar’s product line, customer base and future goals will be uncovered, discussion of the companies competencies and available services. The presentation will show the current manufacturing tools, both hardware and software, and delve into our unique funding methods.

PureSolar – locally manufacturing your energy independence.

The Solar Foundation (TSF) announced statistics that show despite recent setbacks and reports of layoffs, the U.S. solar industry is expanding at nearly six times that of the overall economy. The report, National Solar Jobs Census 2012, states that 13,872 new jobs have been added by the solar industry in the U.S., bringing the total number 119,016. Compare that with an overall U.S. economy rate of 2.3% and -3.77% for fossil fuel electric generation industry, which lost 3,857 jobs in the same period (coal industry is relatively small, employing just 86,000 people in 2011 - that is less than 0.06% of all US jobs). The report states that manufacturing compromises just under 14% of total jobs, while sales and EPC services rounds up most of the remaining positions. These are distributed clean-energy jobs all over the country.

The U.S. now has enough installed solar capacity to power nearly a million households. Currently, total installed solar capacity in the U.S. adds up to 5.7 gigawatts (5,700 megawatts). By the end of 2012, it is expected that another 3.2 gigawatts will be added, nearly doubling last year’s growth. Estimates indicate that 2013 will see the addition of another 3.9 gigawatts of solar capacity in the U.S.

September 2012, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Vote Solar Initiative (Vote Solar) published a report naming the companies using the most solar on their facilities in the U.S. The "Top 20" (in terms of on-site solar capacity deployed) are:  Walmart (WMT), Costco (COST), Kohl’s Department Stores (KSS), IKEA, Macy’s (M), McGraw-Hill (MHP), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Staples, Inc. (SPLS), Campbell’s Soup (CPB), Walgreens (WAG), Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBBY), Toys ‘R’ Us (TOY), General Motors (GM), FedEx (FDX), White Rose Foods, Dow Jones (DJ), Snyder’s of Hanover (LNCE), ProLogis (PLD), Hartz Mountain Industries, and Crayola. See the full report at www.seia.org/SolarTop20. The "Top 20" installations generate a combined estimate of $47.3 million worth of electricity each year.



Other companies that are significant users of solar include Apple, Bloomberg LP, Del Monte Foods, GE, Google, Intel, JC Penny, Kaiser Permanente, Lackland Storage, Lord & Taylor, L’OREAL USA, MARS SNACKFOOD, US Foods LLC, Stop and Shop, Merck, REI, SAS Institute Inc., and Tiffany & CO. “These companies know that solar energy allows them to reliably manage their long-term energy costs and in turn also helps to keep their customer prices low,” said SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch. “Solar helps these top American companies focus on their core business by reducing overhead costs.”

"The United States pays $22 in subsidies to oil, coal, and nuclear power for every $1 invested in renewable energy" - former U.S. president, Bill Clinton, addressing the 2012 Solar Power International trade show. He went on to say "An enormous number of people don’t know that solar is affordable now" and "The U.S. has paid oil subsidies since 1916, (the oil companies) sink dry wells and still get the tax credit.” Even Texas alone employs more clean tech workers than there are coal workers in the entire country.

In getting a grasp of the energy industry, the report “Red White & Green: The True Colors of America’s Clean Tech Jobs", by Nancy Pfund and Michael Lazar reports:

• “Three states all by themselves each have more clean tech workers than all the coal mining workers in the USA.”
• “The total number of Americans working in clean tech is many times the size of those in coal.”
• "Clean tech may mean a debate in Washington, but it means jobs everywhere else.”

So if the key phrase is "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs", then we all should be saying "Clean Tech, Clean Tech, Clean Tech". For PureSolar that would be "PV, PV, PV"!

PureSolar, Inc. (PSI) is a manufacturer of simpler, safer & smarter photovoltaic modules and surfaces in a brand new, state-of-the-art facility located at the site of the former headquarters of Harbor Wholesale Foods in Tumwater, WA. PSI’s technology contains advancements internally and externally to speed up installation, assure higher standards of safety to installers, end-users, service personnel and firefighters, and closely monitor performance for quality and warranty assurances.

PureSolar also provides EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) services for commercial and industrial level photovoltaic installs. They specialize in projects that conform to the WA State Community Solar definition (an example of which is the community solar project at the new Hands On Children’s Museum in Olympia, WA set to be unveiled later this year), but also have experience on board for traditional solar projects. PureSolar can design the installation, provide the legal structure, procure the necessary materials, and project-manage construction - all as a one stop shop.

Other projects for the solar firm include the introduction of the iStop™, a fully autonomous solar structure instantly deployed on your site with capabilities for electric-vehicle or portable device charging, wireless internet access, led lighting, and touch screen digital displays. iStop™ will be sold through a distributor in Seattle, WA, and through PSI for some local and large-scale commercial applications.

While its products and services are tailored towards large commercial and industrial entities, PureSolar’s next generation photovoltaic modules will be made available to the general public in 2013.

PureSolar's Steve Reeves was invited to participate in the Alumni Entrepreneurs Workshop (http://www.evergreen.edu/40/return/workshops.htm#Entrepreneurial%20Life) at the The Evergreen State College's 40th Reunion event as well as give a talk at Evergreen's Synergy Conference (two weeks later). Both events focused on the experiences starting PureSolar, solar module manufacturing, and the current events in PV.

UPDATE: The U.S. Department of Commerce made its final determination, Chinese manufactures have been found guilty of importing crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules into the U.S. at dumping margins of between 18.32 and 249.96%. Antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duties will be applied to all crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, modules, laminates and panels coming into the U.S. from China (see Table below).

	AD preliminary	AD final	CVD preliminary	CVD final	Less export subsidy	Total
Trina	31.14	18.32	4.73	15.97	10.54	23.75
Suntech	31.22	31.73	2.9	14.78	10.54	35.97
59 exporters	31.18	25.96	3.61	15.24	10.54	30.66
Remaining exporters	249.96	249.96	3.61	15.24	10.54	254.66

Along with the strong consolidation of the Chinese PV and solar cell manufacturing companies, the US Department of Commerce plans to impose new anti-dumping duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules imported from China. The imposed preliminary margins are: 31.14% for Trina Solar, 31.22% for Suntech, 31.18% for 59 other producers and 249.96% for all other Chinese solar manufacturers.

Piling on more pain for the Chinese manufacturers, US Senators Charles Schumer (NY) and Sherrod Brown (OH) have introduced legislation that will require PV system owners to use domestically produced solar modules to receive the 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) or the 30% Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit. Under the proposal, 70% of the parts of qualifying solar panels will have to be made in the US. Alternatively, if the solar panels are manufactured in the US, 50% of their parts would have to be US-made.

Currently Italy, India, Canada, and France have domestic content requirements for government supported credits/FITS to the PV industry. Other countries considering domestic content requirements include Saudi Arabia (expected to install 16GW of PV) and Germany (the largest PV market in the world).

PureSolar is not directly competing with Chinese commodity module manufacturers, PureSolar's higher quality PV products are targeted at a wide variety of different market segments.

Photovoltaics (PV) is following the same path to commercialization as other traditional energy sources spurred by federal incentives, according to the new independent research report released by the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville - "Assessment of Incentives and Employment Impacts of Solar Industry Deployment". In fact, according to the report, diffusion of PV technology in the energy markets is very similar to the paths that many American industries have traveled to become mainstream. The report finds that traditional fuels have been subsidized for decades – some like coal and oil for a century – and followed similar growth trajectories toward majority adoption. Like oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear, and all other traditional energy sources, the Baker Center finds, PV has received support from the federal government to promote its usage in order to drive our economy. Every significant energy resource deployed in the US today has had approximately 30 years of innovation and early adoption before beginning rapid growth that brought about mainstream adoption. Federal level subsides occurred during the Carter, Bush Jr. and Obama administrations, and are set to continued until 12/31/2016 (among other incentives, a tax credit of 30% of total expenditures on installing PV for individuals and companies).