In Business, Creating Sustainable Enterprises & Communities

THE MERGING OF SOLAR ENERGY SUPPLIERS

In Business, March-April, Vol. 29, No. 2, p. 14

Vermont's groSolar links up with Oregon's Energy Outfitters in a $2.5 million closing that will grow the utilization of solar energy in new and innovative ways.

A NATIONAL solar energy enterprise, groSolar last month acquired Energy Outfitters, an Oregon-based solar energy distribution company. The acquisition makes groSolar one of the largest solar installation and distribution firms in the U.S., with additional offices in western and eastern Canada.
“This is a great day for groSolar and even a better day for those dedicated to mitigating global warming,'' groSolar CEO Jeff Wolfe notes. “The combined assets and expertise of the two companies will enable us to put more solar on more roofs across the U.S. and Canada.” “We share the same values, mission and goals,'' adds Bob Maynard, President of Energy Outfitters. “And the strategic fit is great because groSolar has strength in the Northeast while Energy Outfitters has strong West Coast and Canadian operations.''
Based in White River Junction, Vermont, groSolar was founded in 1998 by Jeff and Dorothy Wolfe as Global Resource Options, and is dedicated to fostering personal and corporate energy independence and helping reverse global warming. Energy Outfitters of Grants Pass, Oregon; Calgary, Alberta and Barrie, Ontario, was owned by Maynard and Ray Ogden, who will remain actively involved with the business. For over 15 years, Energy Outfitters has been dedicated to growing the renewable energy industry.
Wolfe said the cultural fit between the two companies is seamless and should enable combined operations to move ahead without the typical integration delays. With five main points of distribution throughout North America, groSolar is now positioned to serve all customers in any market quickly and effectively. This wide base of operations makes groSolar the first true North American solar distributor.
According to Wolfe, groSolar will continue to use the Energy Outfitters brand in their existing market areas, slowly transitioning to the groSolar brand nationally. “Energy Outfitters customers' will see a continuation of the strong service culture, which will grow even stronger as we incorporate groSolar's proven value added distribution expertise,'' Wolfe sums up.
ABOUT GRO
GRO is a national solar integration firm focused on designing, distributing and installing high quality energy systems. GRO distributes solar electric, solar hot water and air heating systems throughout North America from offices in Vermont, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, Oregon, Alberta and Ontario. The company recently changed its name from Global Resource Options to GRO, integrating components from leading solar manufacturers including Evergreen Solar, Suntech Power, Heliodyne, Outback, SMA, Magnetek, Gridpoint and UniRac into solar energy systems for its customers. groSolar is a subsidiary of GRO. For information, visit www.groSolar.com.
INVESTING IN SOLAR VENTURES
Last October, SJF Ventures of Durham, North Carolina announced that it had closed a $2.25 million venture with groSolar in a financing round that included Calvert Social Investment Fund and Allco Financial Group.
According to CEO Jeff Wolfe, groSolar will bring solutions to the market, “both through a preferred dealer network and branch offices in underserved markets. Our new name symbolizes the mission of our company, to grow the utilization of solar energy in new and innovative ways.”
According to Cleantech Venture Network LLC, more than $1.4 billion in venture capital has been invested in North American clean tech companies during the first six months of 2006. The clean energy segment was particularly strong, pulling in 70 percent of all clean tech venture capital funding for the second quarter. A large portion of this was invested in early stage solar technology firms.
“We believe there is a significant investment opportunity in the deployment of both proven and emerging solar technologies,” continues SJF Ventures Managing Director David Kirkpatrick.
SJF Ventures is a venture capital fund with $40 million under management that helps accelerate the growth of companies whose competitive advantages include cleantech and workforce innovations. SJF focuses on companies seeking equity capital of $500,000 to $5 million particularly in the renewable energy and efficiency, green building, organic and premium products, business services, and water and infrastructure sectors (www.sjfund.com). For information, contact Anne Claire Broughton or David Kirkpatrick at (919) 530-1177.

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INVESTING IN SOLAR VENTURES

A COMPANY in Auburn Hills, Michigan is making giant sheets of material that can generate solar power. Led by its 84-year-old founder, Stanford Ovshinsky, Energy Conversion Devices is the largest U.S. owned maker of photovoltaic materials, which convert sunlight to electricity. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, “the company is a pioneer in an exploding global industry selling $15 billion a year of what's called PV - photovoltaic. Says the Journal:
“The company's mammoth machine extends the length of a football, field. It runs much like a printing press, spooling out thin sheets of the PV material, which can be used on roofs of homes or businesses. As energy costs rise, along with concerns about global warming, PV is in demand.”
Currently, the U.S. holds third place (behind Japan and Germany) in solar power production, but “China is closing fast.” Ovshinsky has a six-month backlog of PV orders, selling about half his production to Germany, and is building three new plants. When he and his wife, Iris, set up Energy Conversion Devices in 1960, their purpose was to exploit the potential of amorphous materials, which include a combination of cesium, tellurium and other elements. “We wanted to start new industries and solve serious societal problems,” explains Ovshinsky. Their goal was to make PV so cheap that it would be competitive with fossil fuels.
It took decades to build the PV producing machines, disappointing backers. Firms that invested in his company were Atlantic Richfield Oil, which gave him $25 million in 1980. Then came Sharp Electronics, a Japanese firm interested in using solar-powered cells to run calculators. Sharp is now considered the world's leading manufacturer of silicon crystal panels. Standard; Oil of Ohio became a partner in 1981. In 1999, Ovshinsky formed a joint venture with Canon USA, which later sold its interest to a Belgian company, Bekaert NV, which invested about $50 million to construct the huge machine. Bekaert decided the machine couldn't make a profit so Energy Conversion Devices bought them out for $6 million.
Sales for the solar division of his company - United Solar Ovonic - have quadrupled since 2003, running at $90 million per year. About 50 percent of its products are marketed in Germany, which has the solar exposure of Anchorage, Alaska. One of the largest distributors of solar products in Germany likes the PV because it can produce energy on older buildings with flat roofs and sometimes on walls of large buildings. “Business with this material is picking up strongly and continues to grow,” says a spokeswoman for the company.