Even though this metro area is pushing a million, Tucson is still partly a farming town.
Cotton and climate have historically been stars of the “5 Cs” of Arizona commerce. Cotton farms still dot the landscape from Marana to Green Valley. Yet today it is climate that’s giving rise to a whole new economic driver in the desert – harvesting the sun.
With more than 50 solar companies in the metro area, Tucson is already known as an emerging solar hub and the area welcomes new solar business. The solar industry has an overall economic impact of $400 million, directly and indirectly supporting more than 2,000 jobs and $109 million in payroll according to TREO.
“This region has the golden sun-drenched potential to become the world leader in solar energy technology development and manufacturing,” said Joe Snell, TREO’s president and CEO.
With 350 days of sunshine each year – and one of the nation’s top research universities right in our backyard – it’s no surprise that solar energy companies across the globe recognize the promise of Tucson.
That’s why TREO focuses on solar as a key industry in its economic development blueprint for attracting and retaining high-wage jobs to the region.
The stakes for solar industry in this region are high. With a projected federal investment of
$500 billion in clean energy over the next 10 years, it is expected that Arizona could capture about $9.4 billion, according to Apollo Alliance, a coalition of business and community leaders who work to promote green energy. This would result in an estimated 75,100 new direct and indirect jobs created in Arizona over a 10-year period.
TREO estimates that every new solar industry job supports another 1.2 jobs in the community.
As the demand for solar power increases, the global market for solar energy products remains strong. A few years ago it was common to pay $7 per installed watt for a home photovoltaic system. Today, that same system can be installed for around $5 a watt. After factoring in rebates and government tax incentives, solar photovoltaic systems have never been more affordable.
According to TREO board Chair Paul Bonavia, president and CEO of UniSource Energy and Tucson Electric Power, development of a market for solar energy is critical to the advancement of the solar industry in Tucson.
“For the solar industry to come together there has to be critical mass,” Bonavia said. “And to do that, you have to have a market for solar energy. TEP is committed to creating the market structure here so the industry can be successful.” That involves not only capital investment in research projects like the Solar Zone (a 222-acre development and demonstration hub housed at the UA Tech Park), but also the purchase of the energy output by locally constructed solar systems.
Large “central-station”-type solar electric installations (known as solar farms) are often constructed in partnership with an electric utility. Several are in development in Arizona including those near Florence, Gila Bend, and Kingman.
Currently Arizona ranks third in the nation for the number of solar-energy jobs – up from eighth last year – according to the 2011 National Solar Jobs Census conducted by The Solar Foundation, a nonprofit solar energy promotions group. As of August, Arizona had an estimated 4,786 solar jobs and 980 solar establishments. Only California and Colorado rank higher.
The potential is enormous. Harvest the sun, Tucson.
Tucson's Solar Industry Leaders
The Solar Zone at UA Tech Park
Try to picture this – photovoltaic panels the size of an IMAX movie screen. That’s just one of the projects recently announced in The Solar Zone at UA Tech Park.
This 222-acre patch of nondescript desert scrubland at the UA Tech Park embodies the concept of Tucson as “Solar-con Valley.” This land will eventually be the site of six different grid-connected solar projects and is designed to be a research and development hub as well as a testing ground for renewable energy products and technologies. The projects are made possible through the collaboration of public and private entities.
The first Solar Zone project, a 1.6-megawatt PV tracking array built by the Berlin firm Solon Corp., went online in January. Tucson Electric Power purchases the output of the system and, in turn, gives TEP customers the opportunity to purchase monthly blocks of “green” energy at a small premium over standard energy rates.
Those movie-screen PV panels? They’re part of a 2-megawatt system installed last April by California-based Amonix. The panels utilize concentrating PV technology – flat lenses that focus sunlight on high-efficiency photovoltaic cells which in turn convert light to electricity. The net result is that fewer panels are required. Situated on 12 acres, there are just 36 of the giant panels – producing enough energy to power some 500 homes.
The Solar Zone is designed to showcase and demonstrate solar projects as well as act as a research and development facility for solar generation and storage, manufacturing and assembly, workforce development, and education and public awareness.
“The Solar Zone is an outdoor laboratory,” said John Grabo of the UA Office of Research Parks. “It shapes Tucson as a thought leader. If you can dream it, then build it and implement it in Tucson.”
SOLON Corporation
German-based SOLON Corporation is one of the largest providers of turnkey solar power plants and photovoltaic products in the U.S. This sum- mer the firm announced it would focus on solar project development in Tucson and cease manufacturing solar panels in the United States.
Tucson-based Daniel Alcombright is SOLON’s president and CEO of North America.
In late 2010, SOLON announced plans to build a 10-megawatt solar photovoltaic array near Kingman and provide the power to UniSource Energy Services through a 20-year purchase agreement. SOLON also will build a 1.22 megawatt UniSource-owned array near Kingman’s La Senita Elementary School. Through a partnership with Tucson Electric Power and the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy at the UA, SOLON will design and construct an Energy Storage Management Research and Testing site at The Solar Zone in the UA Tech Park.
SOLON recently installed a 237-kilowatt solar system at Trico Electric Cooperative headquarters in Marana.
This fall SOLON announced an exclusive worldwide li- censing agreement with Andersen Corporation, the most recognized window brand in the U.S. With this agreement, SOLON is able to deliver innovative products better, in- cluding SOLquick, a patent-pending integrated laminate- plus-mount system design that features Anderson’s Fibrex material. SOLON’s flat-roof installation can reduce me- chanical installation time by more than 85 percent and electrical installation time by 50 percent.
SunEdison (Formerly FRV)
In June the Pima County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a photovoltaic project of Spanish company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, now SunEdison. The 25-megawatt array will sit on 305 acres of former farmland in the Marana area and will be Southern Arizona’s largest solar generating project to date. TEP will purchase the energy output from the system. Construction began this fall and is estimated to create 250-300 short-term jobs. The system is scheduled to go online in April 2012 and is expected to power more than 4,000 homes.
Global Solar
Tucson-based Global Solar manufactures highly efficient, thin-film solar cells for glass module or flexible material products. This past year the company made big strides with a flexible roofing module, the PowerFLEX BIPV. The product is useful for projects involving commercial roofs that cannot handle the weight of standard glass solar panels.
In May 2011 Photon International named Global Solar one of the world’s top-10 producers of thin-film photovoltaic cells.
Prism Solar
Prism Solar was formed as a joint venture with inventors of a unique holographic PV technology. In 2007 it opened its R & D facility housing an optics lab and a pre-production photovoltaic module line. “One of the reasons we chose Tucson is the UA with its leading optical science programs. It’s a major resource for our planned technology roadmap,” said Glenn Rosenberg, chief technology officer for the firm.
Schletter
After opening its North American headquarters, Schletter grew from 50 employees to 80. A second Tucson location will soon house additional office and manufacturing space. Schletter is a leading provider of ground-mounted systems for commercial and utility-size photovoltaic installations. “The industry is highly competitive and continues to grow exponentially,” said Schletter President Martin Hausner. “Only with the strong support of local bankers and our parent company in Germany is this growth possible.”