Solar ♦ news digest
Isofoton has worked with many Ohio partners to produce an “all-Ohio” supply chain. After extensive research, Ohio was determined the best location choice because it is a top five electricity generator and consumer, a top 10 in population, top five in strength of state solar carve-out, as well as home to several top-5 utilities and has a strong solar energy cluster.
American Municipal Power (AMP) has agreed to purchase up to 200 MW of “made in Ohio” solar panels over five years from Isofoton’s Napoleon factory, which also has been selected by the Turning Point Solar project and American Electric Power (AEP) to supply Napoleon, Ohio-produced photovoltaic panels for 49.9 MW of solar energy to be erected on reclaimed mine lands in rural Appalachia. Isofoton is also working closely with the Toledo Port Authority on “made in Ohio” PV panels for solar energy projects.
“The state’s long-standing heritage of developing manufacturing facilities and associated jobs shows companies like Isofoton that Ohio is the place where emerging technologies can thrive,” said Joseph Hamrock, president of AEP Ohio. “At AEP Ohio, we are proud to play an instrumental role in bringing new jobs to Ohio, while advancing renewable energy technologies in the Midwest.”
Ohio’s universities and colleges are ready to meet the need for new technologies and skilled advanced energy workers through new research, degrees and training specific to the advanced energy industry through programs such as The University Clean Energy Alliance of Ohio (UCEAO) and investments through Ohio Third Frontier.
Converting research into commercial success is another key to Ohio’s success. Programs such as the state’s Edison Technology Centres and Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialisation initiative (PVIC), a collaboration between The University of Toledo, The Ohio State University (OSU) and Bowling Green State University, have been instrumental in advancing solar technology innovation.
In addition, companies that locate in Ohio can reduce operating costs with the state’s favourable business climate, because there is no tax on inventory or corporate income - and boost the return on investment with no tax on purchases of
machinery and equipment. A recent report by the Quantitative Economics and Statistics Practices (QUEST) of Ernst & Young in conjunction with the Council On State Taxation (COST) ranks Ohio as third in the nation for friendliest tax environment.
“Ohio’s success is not solely dependent on the strength of its business advantages. It’s about Ohio’s promise of work-life balance,” said Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition, the non-profit organisation that markets the state for capital investment. “Low- cost, low-stress communities and short commutes create the State of Perfect Balance, where you can achieve both professional and personal success without sacrificing one for the other.”
ARC Energy countersues GT Solar for anticompetitive conduct
The firm is defending its proprietary sapphire technology which it says is superior to that of GT Solar.
Advanced RenewableEnergy (ARC Energy), a provider of innovative c-axis sapphire growth technologies and turnkey solutions for the LED industry, last week filed an Answer and Counterclaim in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Superior Court against GT Solar International.
In its filing, ARC vigorously denies that any of ARC’s products or technologies use any proprietary GT Solar technology and has countersued GT Solar for anticompetitive conduct. ARC Energy’s Counterclaim asserts that GT Solar has made knowingly false and defamatory statements about ARC Energy’s business and products for the unlawful purpose of inhibiting sales of ARC Energy’s sapphire crystal growth system into the fast growing LED market.
Additionally, ARC states that GT Solar’s allegations are baseless and that ARC’s proprietary c-axis CHES sapphire technology is different from, and superior to, other sapphire growth technologies, including GT’s. ARC Energy says its technology for growing sapphire crystals on the c-axis affords
August/September 2011
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