By John Seewer - ASSOCIATED PRESS -Updated: 06/24/09 07:31 AM

PERRYSBURG, Ohio — A new government council will help auto industry workers transition to new manufacturing opportunities, including jobs in alternative energy, Vice President Biden said Tuesday.

Biden toured the northwestern Ohio headquarters of the Willard & Kelsey Solar Group, which plans to begin large-scale production of solar panels this year. The Toledo area has been hit hard by job losses in the auto industry and is banking on more green factory jobs.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Manufacturing is facing one of its toughest periods, in at least my lifetime,” Biden said. But, he said, U. S. manufacturing can be successful again if, for example, auto workers are trained to work in the solar, wind or biotech industries.

There are close to 10 companies that are turning Toledo into a research hub for converting sunlight into energy.

President Barack Obama was expected to sign an executive order this week that establishes the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers. The council will be chaired by one of the president’s top economic advisers, Lawrence Summers, and his labor secretary, Hilda Solis.

The executive director will be Obama’s director of recovery for auto communities and workers, Ed Montgomery.

The recession has been particularly hard on the auto industry, which has lost more than 400,000 jobs in the last decade.

Ohio has taken hits from both the big automakers who have announced two plant closings in recent months and the small auto suppliers who have been forced to slow production. The state ranks first in the country in the number of suppliers.

The Obama administration is expanding its program to help link auto suppliers with companies that are making wind turbines, solar panels and robotics, Biden said.

The auto suppliers, he said, already have the technology and skilled workers that can help them transition into making alternative energy products. “This program is going to put them on a self-sustaining path,” he continued.

Biden noted that the solar company he toured Tuesday is using technology developed in Ohio to produce and ship a product overseas. “That’s the America I grew up in,” he said.

Willard & Kelsey hopes to hire about 400 employees this year to increase production, said Gary Faykosh, the company’s head of research and development. But everything is on hold because of the tight credit market, he said. “We’re ready to go,” Faykosh said.

The solar technology startups in the Toledo area have become a popular backdrop for politicians promoting alternative energy.

As the Republican Party vice-presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a campaign stop in October at a company that is developing flexible solar panels. Earlier this month, Solis and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland toured a factory that produces machines that make glass for the auto and solar industries.

By Jonathan D. Epstein – BUFFALO NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER 06/30/09

A Williamsville firm will handle most of the work on a $7.5 million contract to install a massive solar panel system at the University at Buffalo, designed to provide “green” energy to student apartments, the New York Power Authority said Monday.

Solar Liberty will work in conjunction with a Canadian firm to set up the system, which officials called the largest solar installation at any college or university in the state, and one of the largest on any U. S. campus.

It’s part of a new emphasis by the Power Authority and the state on renewable energy, and on lessening the state’s dependence on fossil fuels, officials said. And it will lead to the creation of what officials called “green” jobs that can’t be exported overseas.

The proposed contract, which still faces approval by the Power Authority board, calls for the installation of a 1.1-megawatt solar photovoltaic system on UB’s North Campus in Amherst. The project includes about 5,000 solar panels that will generate 1.3 million kilowatt hours of energy annually. That will power 735 apartments at UB’s Flint Village, housing more than 2,000 students. One megawatt typically powers 1,000 homes.

The contract, which was subject to competitive bidding, will technically be awarded to Simcoe, Ont.- based DeCloet Greenhouse Manufacturing. However, 80 percent of the contract, or up to $6 million, will go to Solar Liberty.

Power Authority President and CEO Richard Kessel said Monday that he will ask the authority’s board to approve the contract for Solar Liberty at the board’s regular meeting today, to be held at the Niagara Power Project’s Power Vista in Lewiston. Although the decision is not yet final, Kessel said he had spoken to many of the directors and said they are in favor.

“They think this is exactly what the Power Authority should be doing,” said Kessel. “This is the first of many projects we’ll be doing in Western New York.”

Under the contract, Solar Liberty, headquartered at 6225 Sheridan Drive in the Sheridan Meadows office complex, will purchase the panels and other equipment and provide the local labor to install the ground-mounted system. DeCloet, a greenhouse maker with expertise in laying fields of equipment in the ground, will provide technical expertise and supervision, but the work will be handled by Solar Liberty.

The panels will be installed at four feet off the ground, at a pitched angle facing south, and will occupy six acres near the campus’ chilling plant. Each panel is about 15 square feet. They can generate electricity even through a few inches of snow, but the top surface is glass with no friction so snow will slide off with a little heat.

Construction could start in August and it’s slated for completion by fall 2010, though Kessel said it could be ready sooner.

Solar Liberty, which employs 14, said it expects to hire another 10 to 15 installation workers, who will be paid between $35 and $50 an hour, as well as some more administrative staff to work in its offices.

The UB project is expected to be the largest ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system in the state. It’s part of a $21 million renewable energy program by the Power Authority that officials said will focus on Western New York and the North Country.

Founded by Rizzo, a UB Law School graduate, and his brother Nathan, Solar Liberty is one of the largest solar electric “integrators” and installers in the state. It serves government, nonprofit, education, commercial and residential customers.

In addition to its main office here, it has an office in Syracuse, and installation crews working around the state. It also serves installers nationally through a wholesale division.

jepstein@buffnews.com

Sunworks Pledges to Create 175 Jobs

By James Heaney - BUFFALO NEWS STAFF REPORTER - 7/01/09 

The state Power Authority has awarded a large block of low-cost hydropower to a fledgling California company that plans to build a plant in Western New York to manufacture solar panels.

Sunworks Solar plans to spend $200 million to build a plant that would employ 175. The New York Power Authority on Tuesday agreed to allocate five megawatts of hydropower, which it will sell to the San Francisco-based company for about one-quarter the market rate.

The plant would build large solar panels for utilities. Pay would range from $40,000 to over $100,000 a year, depending on the position.

Company officials said they have not yet selected a site, but that it would be in Western New York. A construction timetable is also up in the air. Work could start as soon as next spring.

The company was founded last year and does not operate a plant, but is in negotiations to build several in differing locales.

Sunworks Solar would be one of the larger buyers of low-cost hydropower from the authority. The five megawatt allocation is the fifth-largest made by the authority since 2006 and is eight-times larger than the typical allocation made by the authority during that period.

The deal would save the company an estimated $1.6 million a year, or $9,352 per job. By contract, the average deal made by the authority since 2006 provides annual savings of $11,833 per job.

The deal also compares favorably in terms of the amount of private investment the power leverages. On average, deals done by NYPA since 2006 produce $11,451 of investment for each kilowatt allocated. The Sunworks deal would generate nearly four times more investment, or $40,000.

The allocation marks the continuation of a trend by the authority to earmark large blocks of power to green manufacturing concerns.

In recent years, the authority has committed 40 megawatts to Globe Metals, which is refurbishing a plant in Niagara Falls to produce metallurgical-grade silicon for use in the manufacture of solar panels, and five megawatts each to ethanol plants proposed for Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

None of those facilities are operating yet, however. Globe is still overhauling its plant and the ethanol plants are still on the drawing board.

In the meantime, the authority is selling the allocated, but unused power at market rates and keeping the proceeds. U. S. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, is pressing the authority to keep those proceeds in Western New York.

jheaney@buffnews.com

by David Robinson – Buffalo News Business Reporter - 1/31/09

Moog Inc., looking to become a bigger player in the wind energy business, has bought a 70 percent stake in a British company that makes components used in wind turbines, the Elma aerospace company said Friday.

The $16 million deal will expand the line of products that Moog makes for wind turbines, primarily equipment that stops and shuts down the turbines and also regulates their power output.

The newest acquisition, Insensys ltd., makes pitch control and rotor blade monitoring systems. Pitch control systems adjust the angle of the turbine’s blades to improve its efficiency and control its load. Monitoring systems can extend the turbine’s life and reduce maintenance costs.

Insensys had $7.6 million in sales last year.

The deal gives Moog the option to buy the remaining 30 percent of Insensys within the next year. The purchase is not expected to affect Moog’s earnings during the current fiscal year, which ends in October, because of accounting adjustments. Insensys is expected to add about $10.2 million to Moog’s sales during the eight months remaining in Moog’s fiscal year.

Moog executives said earlier this month that they wanted to expand their position in the wind energy industry, which has been growing at about a 20 percent annual rate.

Wind turbines have been steadily getting bigger, now spanning as much as 240-feet in diameter and capable of generating 1.5 megawatts of electricity. That increasing size can create a challenge to control motion on those turbines, Moog executives have said.

“The use of real-time data improves turbine performance and lower’s a wind turbine’s total cost of ownership,” said Steven Huckvale, the president of Moog’s international group.

Moog had about $70 million in energy-related revenues during its previous fiscal year, and the company in June broadened its position in the wind energy industry by acquiring a 40 percent stake in a German company, LTi RE-Energy GmbH, that makes motion control and drive systems used on wind turbines. Moog expects to buy the rest of LTi by summer.

drobinson@buffnews.com

By John Sawyer and Michael Sawyer

Buffalo News - 5/5/09 - Another Voice / Energy production

In his recent speech about the economy, President Obama called for “new investments in renewable energy and technology that will create new jobs and new industries.”

Here in Western New York, one example of this environmentally and economically sustainable energy future is in the Town of Shelby.

Opened in 2007, the Western New York Energy plant produces more than 50 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol a year. In addition, the plant produces three valuable co-products: 160,000 tons of high-quality distillers grains; 1.5 million gallons of crude corn oil, which is used for biodiesel; and 100,000 tons of food-grade carbon dioxide, which is used for beverage carbonation, food processing and other industrial applications. The plant provides more than 40 well-paying jobs, from chemists and engineers to operators and managers, and creates new markets for local grain farmers and a valuable feed product for dairy and cattle farmers.

Throughout the nation, the ethanol industry is making progress economically and environmentally. In 2008, American ethanol producers supplied more than 9.2 billion gallons of clean-burning ethanol, equivalent to 7 percent of the domestic gasoline supply. This record production supported nearly 500,000 jobs. It added $21 billion in tax payments to federal, state and local coffers. It displaced 321 million barrels of imported oil — equal to 10 months of imports from Venezuela.

Between 2001 and 2006, water consumption at U. S. ethanol plants decreased by 27 percent, electricity use dropped by 16 percent and total energy utilization declined by 22 percent. For instance, the Shelby plant uses only about 2.5 gallons of water for each gallon of ethanol that is produced — an even lower rate than the average of three gallons of water for one gallon of ethanol in the entire industry.

Improvements in current ethanol technologies can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 60 percent compared to gasoline. New technologies hold the potential for even greater climate benefits, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. With an abundance of “biomass” — wood wastes, fast-growing trees, corn stalks and other materials that are usually discarded — New York is poised to be a leader in renewable fuel production.

For example, researchers at the State University of New York School of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse are developing technologies to grow, harvest and convert fast-growing poplar trees into renewable fuels. Others are looking at garbage, grasses and other waste materials.

Increasing domestic production of clean-burning and low-cost renewable fuels from a wide array of technologies and feedstocks will reduce our reliance on imported oil and expand economic opportunities, just as is happening in Orleans County today.

John Sawyer is the chief executive officer of Western New York Energy. His son Michael is the executive vice president.

Adam Rizzo, left, president of Solar Liberty, talks to Eric Lindstrom, associate vice president at Cannon Design, about the solar panels his company is installing on the roof of Cannon’s Grand Island building. Robert Kirkham / Buffalo News

Updated: 05/11/09 07:51 AM

Solar 2009 spotlights region’s potential as a renewable power hub

Buffalo poised to display it’s green side to 3,000 visitors

By Stephen T. Watson – Buffalo News Staff Reporter

If you believe our poor meteorological reputation, bringing a solar power conference to Buffalo is like talking about snow removal in Phoenix or preparing for hurricanes in Minneapolis.

But Buffalo this week hosts one of the largest national conferences on solar and other renewable energy sources, and that’s not a punch line for a joke in a Jay Leno monologue.

In fact, organizers say the Solar 2009 National Conference offers a chance for an expected 3,000 out-oftowners to see that this region is a hotbed of activity in renewable energy and green jobs.

“We need to be put on the map for a little bit more than snow,” said Edward E. Hogle, who is building student housing in Black Rock that will use solar energy and boilers running on grease and vegetable oil.

A number of businesses that offer green products and services have sprouted up here in recent years, and experts say this region can be a center for the nation’s emerging green economy.

Companies, schools and local governments also are working to become environmentally friendly, taking advantage of solar and wind power to operate more efficiently.

“People say, ‘Why Buffalo?’ It only makes sense for Buffalo, because of our strategic location,” said Marika Woods-Frankenstein, cultural and environmental development coordinator for the Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts.

The conference, in the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, will show off local green projects, including wind turbines, solar panel arrays and Hogle’s green housing.

And if you think this a stretch for a place perceived as a frozen landscape 10 months of the year, think again. We have more sunny days annually than Rochester, Syracuse — and Orlando, Fla.

“Buffalo has been called the sun capital of the Northeast,” said Adam Rizzo, president of Solar Liberty, a Williamsville company that installs solar systems.

Interest in the Solar 2009 conference is sky-high, said Neal Lurie, American Solar Energy Society spokesman. With about 5,000 people expected, the Buffalo event will have the biggest crowd in the conference’s 38 years, he said, “which is impressive when you consider last year we were in San Diego.”

Big economic impact

About 3,000 attendees should come from out of town, generating an economic impact of $2.4 million for the region during the six-day conference that begins today, said Cheryl J. Zanghi, national sales manager for the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Highlights of the conference include speeches Friday by Gov. David A. Paterson and futurist David Zach and tours showcasing the region’s environmentally friendly projects and green companies, which are open to the public. Visit www.ases.org and look for details on Solar 2009. Holding a solar energy conference in Buffalo isn’t so farfetched, organizers said.

Buffalo, between May and September, has a higher percentage of possible sun and less average rainfall than Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington, D. C., and Raleigh, N. C., according to the National Weather Service here.

And an AccuWeather researcher reported in January that Buffalo won the 2008 Sunshine Derby, beating out Rochester, Syracuse and, yes, Orlando.

Furthermore, Buffalo is well-positioned to be a player in the green economy, boosters said, because of its location along the Great Lakes, which makes it a transportation hub; its existing industrial infrastructure; and its highly educated work force.

Solar Liberty, founded in 2003 by brothers Adam and Nathan Rizzo, has worked on dozens of solar panel installation projects around the region and plans to grow from 14 employees to 25 by the end of the year.

Solar panels can generate energy even when it’s cloudy or snowy out — much as one can get sunburned on an overcast day — though they do produce less on gray days.

Night is the only time when the panels can’t produce energy.

Solar energy projects tend to pay for themselves after three to five years, Adam Rizzo said on the roof of Cannon Design, on Grand Island, where workers last week were installing a sea of 120 solar panels. The panels, set up in rows weighted down by concrete ballast blocks, contain dozens of blue cells made out of silicon.

Cannon should get just under 5 percent of its energy from the solar panels. The $170,000 system will reduce the large architectural firm’s carbon footprint by 439 tons over its lifetime, said Eric Lindstrom, an associate vice president at Cannon.

Growing ‘Green Belt’

That’s equivalent to the planting of 17,500 trees, he said.

“We’re trying to live what we tell our clients,” said Lindstrom.

Another local company, National Solar Technologies in Depew, designs and assembles stand-alone solar systems for sites — such as at national parks — where it isn’t feasible to connect to the grid.

Along the waterfront in Lackawanna, Buffalo and parts north, a critical mass of green companies and projects is developing. This informal “Green Belt” includes the off-shore Steel Winds wind farm, the RiverWright ethanol plant, Nano- Dynamics and Honeywell Buffalo, said Brian Reilly, city commissioner of economic development.

Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Co. could be part of this cluster. The Ontario company is seriously considering setting up a factory here to build solar-powered recreational boats.

Tamarack has built six of the boats, comparable to 22-foot pontoon boats, with one in use at a summer camp near Huntsville, Ont., and one used to ferry tourists to Mayan ruins in Belize, said Montgomery Gisborne, the company president.

The company is seeking financing for a 20,000-square-foot facility that, within five years, could expand to have 120 employees and produce 1,200 boats annually, Gisborne said.

Governments and institutions also are jumping on the renewable bandwagon, adding solar arrays and making municipal buildings more energy-efficient.

This activity is spurred by incentives from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and from the federal economic stimulus package, which contains $65 billion for energy projects, the solar society’s Lurie said.

A diversified portfolio

Solar energy can’t compete on cost with cheaper methods of generating electricity, such as coal-burning plants, without subsidies and tax credits, advocates acknowledged.

But solar, if it can be combined with wind and biofuels and harvested efficiently, has the potential to be a viable source of energy for the region, said Dennis A. Andrejko, associate professor of architecture at the University at Buffalo and a member of the conference’s national organizing committee.

“We have to have a diversified portfolio,” Andrejko said.

In Black Rock, Hogle’s 125,000-square-foot Rock Harbor Commons building, set to open in January, will house college students in a renovated industrial facility that will get its heat through boilers running on vegetable oil and waste food grease from area restaurants, said Hogle, who owns the three-story facility and the nearby E. B. Atlas Steel.

The solar conference itself is generating some green ideas.

Solar Liberty is donating its services to install solar panels on the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, site of the conference. The Convention&Visitors Bureau, working with the Hyatt Regency Buffalo and other partners, will compost all of the uneaten food served at the conference, Zanghi said.

But whither the weather?

Zanghi admitted she is keeping an eye on the forecast this week.

At least we know there won’t be snow on the ground.

swatson@buffnews.com

The wind farm proposed by the state Power Authority would have at least six times the generating capacity of the Steel Winds project, above, in Lackawanna.

Derek Gee / Buffalo News file photo - Updated: 04/22/09 12:12 PM

Power Authority proposes billion-dollar wind farm

By James Heaney -News Staff Reporter

The state Power Authority announced an initiative today that could lead to the construction of a billion-dollar wind farm off the Lake Erie or Ontario shoreline.

The project would involve building a wind farm and also seeding a local industry to manufacture and assemble wind turbines, authority officials say.

“The potential for wind (power) in the Great Lakes is extraordinary,” said Richard Kessel, president and chief executive officer of the New York Power Authority.

Kessel said he has met with numerous wind farm developers, who he said have expressed “a great deal of interest.”

As a first step in developing a wind farm, the authority today issued a request for an expression of interest from developers. That will likely be followed with a formal request for proposals later this year.

The authority envisions a wind farm with a minimum capacity of 120 megawatts — about six times the capacity of the Steel Winds project on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna. A 120-megawatt project would involve about 40 wind turbines, which probably would be located miles from the shoreline.

Kessel said the project would cost $700 million to $1 billion and would be in operation in about five years.

To facilitate the project, the authority would sign a power purchase agreement for 20 years, thus providing a developer a guaranteed revenue stream that would allow it to obtain financing for the project. Authority officials said they are open to other options, including a joint venture that could draw on its considerable bonding capacity and cash reserves.

The authority would require the developer to manufacture and assemble the turbines locally, drawing on the region’s industrial capacity. Authority officials said the region has the potential to develop into an assembly hub that could service the growing wind market in the Northeast, Midwest and Ontario.

“The project could make Western New York a center for wind turbine manufacturing,” Kessel said.

jheaney@buffnews.com