Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Oregon Selected For 100MW Solar Plant

Gresham, Oregon, is the winner in an effort to build a thin, film solar manufacturing plant by Silicon Valley's Solexant, the firm said Tuesday afternoon. According to Solexant, it has selected the city of Gresham, Oregon for its first, commercial-scale nanocrystal manufacturing facility. The firm said the new plant will manufacture thin-film solar products, and will be the first thin-film solar plant in the state. The company explained that it expects to receive a $25M loan from the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE), as part of the move. The firm said it will use a $18.75M Business Energy Tax Credit from the state, the $25M loan, plus $64M in equity funding it has raised to bring the plant to full capacity. Solexant said it will employ as many 200 local employees. Solexant's technology was originally developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL).