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National Solar Installer Opens Portland Location

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 12:00 CDT

By Libby Tucker

One of the country's largest solar installers, California-based REC Solar, has opened its first Oregon location in Portland.

REC joins a "stampede" of out-of state companies specializing in the design and installation of solar electric systems that have moved to Oregon in the past year, Brian Thornton, commercial solar manager for the EnergyTrust of Oregon, said.

"The number of licensed installers in Oregon has about doubled since last year," Thornton said. The EnergyTrust now lists 80 licensed solar installers qualified to work on its solar projects.

REC has already installed solar systems for large Oregon customers, including Costco Wholesale Corp. The company is setting up a permanent residence in the state to take better advantage of Oregon's Business Energy Tax Credit and the state's "progressive" attitude toward renewable energy development, said Angiolo Laviziano, CEO of REC Solar, which is headquartered in San Luis Obispo.

The Oregon Legislature last year raised the state's Business Energy Tax Credit from 35 percent of eligible costs to 50 percent of costs, boosting a company's potential return on investment. As a result, demand for solar installers has skyrocketed in the state.

"Demand (for solar systems) is high and as Oregonians we'd like to see more Oregon businesses meet the demand, but there is room for outside companies," said Michael VanDerwater, executive director of Solar Oregon, a nonprofit industry association.

"There are a lot of Californian companies that have perfected the model because the solar industry has grown so much there," VanDerwater, said. "They have the infrastructure to move into other states."

REC's 10 locations in California, Colorado and New Jersey last year installed 750 solar systems in homes and businesses nationwide. But its Oregon branch, at Southeast Main Street and Ninth Avenue, will focus on commercial installations. Low-end systems will start at $200,000 and generate about 30 kilowatts of electricity. A typical residential system is about 3 kilowatts, according to the Energy Trust.

With financial backing from its parent company, Mainstream Energy LLC, REC Solar has grown to 225 employees since it was founded in 1997. The company now boasts an average annual growth rate of 75 percent.

REC plans to grow just as rapidly in Oregon. And it began by recruiting its first local employee from Oregon's emerging energy industry.

"In some states solar companies come in for one or two projects and leave again. That's not our approach," Laviziano, said. "We're here to create a sustainable business."

The company's decision to locate in Oregon couldn't have come at a better time, said Andy Noel, a former employee of Portland-based Green Mountain Energy who's now serving as REC's senior commercial solar consultant for Oregon. Public agencies are scrambling to install solar panels before a federal investment tax credit expires in December, he said.

REC, which has a history of working with schools and universities, is ready to scoop up those public contracts, Noel said. Honeywell is providing financial backing for REC's public projects, which have no tax liability and can't directly claim tax credits. The company will also start by targeting small and medium- sized Oregon businesses.

"Small and medium business in Oregon tend to be underserved" by renewable power, Noel said.

Originally published by Libby Tucker.

(c) 2008 Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Source: Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR)

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