Company Expansions - Solar
Solar Manufacturing
Abound Solar, a developer of robust, industrial scale thin-film photovoltaic modules, announced in July 2011 two expansions for its Northern Colorado operations in Loveland. Abound expanded from 7,500 square feet of office space to 14,267 square feet and added 8,000 square feet to its Certification and Reliability Laboratory. As a result of the facilities expansion, Abound will add 50 new jobs at the sites by the end of 2011.
SMA America, LLC leased a second facility in the Enterprise Park at Stapleton, signing a 10-year lease for a 148,902-square-foot building in April 2011. SMA is the world leader in solar inverter technology and manufacturing.
Solar Thin Films, Inc. announced in November 2010 that it has entered into a Letter of Intent with One Globe Renewables, LLC of Colorado, USA for the purpose of forming a joint venture and strategic relationships for the development and syndication of solar farms on both a proprietary and turnkey basis. Preliminary talks are underway in Israel, Canada, Europe and elsewhere to form joint ventures similar to the one being negotiated with One Globe Renewables.
Solar Energy Systems (SES), LLC, headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, announced expansion plans in October 2010 with a new office in Denver. SES has traditionally concentrated on the tristate market of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. SES has grown rapidly over the past two years and established itself as a market leader in providing commercial turnkey solar PV solutions with a high level of customer service.
SkyFuel, Inc., a maker of the SkyTrough® parabolic trough for the Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) industry, announced in October 2010 that it has moved its headquarters from Albuquerque to Unincorporated Jefferson County. SkyFuel has maintained two locations: a business office in Albuquerque, New Mexico to be close to prime CSP real estate, and a Research & Development center in Jefferson County, Colorado to be close to the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and the testing and expertise it provides.
Martifer Solar USA, a Los Angeles-based leader in turnkey photovoltaic solutions, expanded operations to Denver in September 2010, where it will leverage the peak incentives dedicated to renewable energy for residential, commercial, and government markets.
One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), the nation's largest solar group purchase provider, announced the launch of a new solar group purchase program in the Denver area. The program offers Denver homeowners a solution that reduces the cost and confusion traditionally associated with the solar buying process.
Abound Solar announced it will add 300 jobs as part of a $400 million stimulus-funded loan guarantee it received in July 2010 to increase production of its thin-film photovoltaic modules at its existing manufacturing plant in Longmont. Abound also opened a new manufacturing facility in Longmont (Unincorporated Weld County) in 2009.
Ascent Solar opened its new world headquarters in 2009 in Thornton. A developer of state-of-the-art, thin-film photovoltaic modules, Ascent employs 300 people at the 145,000-square-foot plant, with plans to add an additional 200 employees.
PrimeStar Solar, a developer and manufacturer of thin-film photovoltaic modules for large-scale commercial applications, expanded to 106,000 square feet of new space in Arvada in 2009. Headquartered in Golden, Prime Star is scaling up its proprietary semiconductor technology for low-cost high-volume manufacturing at the facility. GE Energy is a major shareholder in the company.
Solar R&D
The Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT) announced in June 2011 the selection of a site and developer for the Aerospace and Clean Energy (ACE) Manufacturing and Innovation Park. CAMT is partnering to develop the former 167-acre Agilent campus into a multitenant campus that can house more than 70 companies with a focus on scale‐up stage aerospace and clean energy manufacturing and technology companies.
The Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory created the Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion (CRSP) in 2008 to find ways to directly convert the sun's energy to low-cost electricity and fuels. CRSP provides basic and applied research at the Collaboratory's four member institutions, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, and the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory’s Solar Technology Acceleration Center (SolarTAC) broke ground in 2009 in Aurora. SolarTAC provides a solar facility where member companies can bring their technologies for testing and demonstration, particularly solar technologies at the early commercial or near-commercial stage of development. The entities involved in SolarTAC include: Abengoa Solar, the city of Aurora, the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, Midwest Research Institute (MRI), SunEdison, and Xcel Energy.
Solar Leasing
SolarCity, a California-based residential and solar panel leasing company, opened its second Colorado location in Parker in May 2011 with 21 new staff. The new facility has warehouse facilities, a truck fleet, and space for the company's administrative activities.
SolarCity, a company specializes in solar financing, design, installation, monitoring, and related services, announced its expansion into the Colorado market. The company will hire 30 to 40 new employees in Colorado initially, will open a operations facility in Metro Denver, and started solar installations in 2010. SolarLease will initially be available to Colorado homeowners served by Xcel Energy.
SunRun, a California-based company that offers homeowners the opportunity to lease solar power systems, expanded into Colorado in 2009. The expansion is a direct result of the passage of Senate Bill 51 allowing solar companies to build rooftop systems that homeowners can lease instead of own, dramatically reducing upfront costs for consumers and creating a new marketplace and job expansion for solar installers.
