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More trees planted in Oregon’s solar forest, and the roots lie in silicon, watered with incentives

29 September 2008 | By Tom Cheyney | Chip Shots

oregon_solar_forest The news that Sanyo plans to build a silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing facility in Salem, OR, is the latest solar win for the northwest U.S. state, which has become one of the country's major photovoltaic manufacturing areas. Published reports suggest that several companies are looking hard at Oregon for their planned facilities, as the state continues its quest for renewable-energy industrial development.

One thing nearly all the Oregonian photovoltaics ventures have in common is silicon: whether it's Solaicx and Peak Sun Silicon making next-generation polysilicon, Solar World and now Sanyo fabricating ingots and wafers, or Solar World and Intel spinout SpectraWatt building or ramping solar-cell production plants, the sandy stuff dominates the materials palette.

Even thin-film PV start-up XsunX, which is installing tools and fitting out its first 25-MW module manufacturing line near Portland, uses amorphous silicon, which it plans to deposit on glass without a wafer in sight, once it starts churning out its first production panels sometime next year.

SolarWorld has been busy bringing what it calls the biggest solar-cell manufacturing plant in the U.S. up to production speed, with opening ceremonies slated for Oct. 17 at the Hillsboro site. When the 480,000-square-foot fab hits its full capacity stride in 2009, it will be capable of 500-MW annual cell output. The new factory has silicon roots as well, given its first incarnation as a Komatsu wafer-making facility.

The other thing that solar companies in the Beaver State have in common is the state's inviting incentive environment. The Oregonian newspaper reported that the Sanyo deal was sealed, in part, by tapping into "up to $40 million of renewable-energy tax credits in two years under an incentive expanded during the Legislature's special session this year. State and local governments have promised a basket of other goodies for the factory, which is expected to employ 200 people. Together the subsidies could total more than $200,000 per job."

For a $80 million price-tag factory like Sanyo's, $40 mill is quite a nice enticement.

Something known as "Betsy," or BETC, for business energy tax credit program, benefits manufacturers in a big way. Sanyo, for example, "can apply during one calendar year to receive a $20 million credit over five years. The next year, Sanyo managers could apply for an additional $20 million credit toward a second phase, if the project met eligibility tests," according to the news story.

The article included other specifics on Sanyo's plans not included in the brief press release issued by the company. Groundbreaking will take place this week at the 20-acre site, with a first phase planned that will include the hiring of 118 employees who will help make sure that production begins in fall 2009. A second phase will get going in 2010. The company also has "first rights for additional city-owned land in its anchor role" in Salem's Renewable Energy and Technology Park.

In addition, the story relates, "Sanyo will get discounted land, road improvements worth $1 million, worker training, a Marion County grant for equipment, and a five-year exemption on property taxes for its plant and machinery."

On the federal level, if Congress finally passes the solar investment tax credit extension and President Bush signs it into law this year, Sanyo could also apply for such credits. Nothing like the trifecta of local, state, and national incentives to help a solar business start chasing photons!

In the same article, Mike Grainey, director of the Oregon Energy Department, said that "officials are in serious discussions with at least a half-dozen more solar companies considering Oregon," including a particular firm that could make up its mind within a month.

One existing high-tech manufacturing facility which has garnered speculation about whether it might be converted into a solar-cell plant is the soon-to-shutter Hynix Semiconductor memory-chip fab in Eugene. Although there's been no official word about the facility's future, a photovoltaic outcome would not come as a big surprise, given Oregon's push to plant and nurture more trees in its solar forest.