Himes’ Amendment Would Make Local Solar Company Eligible for Federal Fund
GREEN CONN
Norwalk Hour
Katerina Voutsina
Boston University Washington News Service
10/22/2009
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, proposed Thursday that local companies who design solar-concentrating products be given access to federal research and development funds.
“Through the 1990s no country on earth invested more in solar [technology] than we did,” Himes said on the House floor. “So, how is it that in 2009 only 5 percent of the world’s solar panels are made in America?”
Himes said that an investment in innovating technologies would create thousands of good, high-paying jobs for American workers such as roofers, electricians and construction workers and in the process restore America’s competitiveness “in one of the most important industries of the next century.”
Hines offered his proposal as an amendment to the Solar Technology Roadmap Act. That bill, sponsored by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., would authorize the secretary of energy to appoint a “Roadmap Committee” to guide government-private spending of an authorized $2.25 billion for solar research and development.
“We are substantially lagging the Chinese in the production of solar technology,” Himes said in a phone interview, adding that his amendment would clarify the language for “very promising” solar-concentrating technology companies such as Shelton-based OPEL Solar Inc. to be eligible for the federal funds.
OPEL Solar is the only Connecticut-based solar technology manufacturer. It develops, designs and manufactures solar-concentrating products that range from solar farms for industrial-scale utilities to rooftop systems for commercial building applications.
“In simple English, photovoltaic solar technology is the ability to magnify the sun 500 to 600 times more than on a regular flat light panel,” Patricia Agudow, vice president of public relations and government relations for OPEL Solar said in a telephone interview.
If this bill passes, Agudow said, OPEL Solar expects to expand its clientele and grow 20 to 50 percent over the next year.
She said that OPEL’s photovoltaic panels, which employ dual-axis solar trackers and complex lenses to focus sunlight onto a photovoltaic surface are 20 to 40 percent more efficient than a standard photovoltaic cell.
Though such panels are costly, at $250 a watt, the technology still saves consumers many dollars, Agudow said, because the panels generate more power while using less equipment and taking up less land.
“We have 30 people that work for us, but we are in a growth mode,” Agudow said. “In this last six months, we have added about 10 positions.” She that the hiring has a “ripple effect” because the company does some local manufacturing, which would create more jobs.
Without Himes’ amendment, the bill would not include solar thermal and concentrating solar photovoltaic technologies.
“My amendment simply says that concentrated solar technology will be part of a research development that the secretary of energy is mandated to undertake,” Himes said.
If the bill becomes a law, it will authorize the Department of Energy to conduct at least 10 photovoltaic demonstration projects ranging from 1 to 3 megawatts in size and at least three but not more than five solar projects greater than 30 megawatts in size. The bill will also authorize $350 million to carry out these activities in 2011, rising to $550 million in 2015.
“The global race to a clean-energy economy is on and millions of new jobs are on the line,” Himes said. “We may have fallen behind a bit, but this is our chance to catch up.”
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