Solarworld, one of the world’s leading producers of
commercial and residential solar PV panels is located just a few miles west on
Highway 26 in Hillsboro. The business of producing solar panels that generate
electricity is booming. There are several
reasons the solar PV business is so good these days. The biggest factor is the
urgent need to end our dependence on coal and oil for energy. Our addiction to
dirty fossil fuels has put us on a collision course with climate change. Weather extremes driven by human induced
atmospheric warming are already here. Anybody noticed how warm it’s been in the
first few months of 2015 in Oregon? What happened to the endless rain we
normally experience in the winter months?
The short answer is elevated sea surface temperatures caused by human
induced atmospheric heating.
The other factor favoring wind and solar PV is the amazing
drop in cost. Solar and wind are already
economically competitive to the long entrenched, dirty forms of energy on which
we have long been dependent. Nobody is
investing in new coal, oil, or nuclear infrastructure these days, because it
just doesn’t make financial sense.
Kevin Keene, Regional Sales Manager for Solarworld, gave me
a tour of the company’s plant in Hillsboro, Oregon, a few miles from my home.
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| Solarworld Plant, Hillsboro, Oregon |
Solarworld manufactures photovoltaic panels that are made up
of silicon-based PV wafers linked together in 38” X 66” sealed panels. The
panels are 17% percent efficient at converting solar photons from the sun into
electricity. Each panel is able to generate about 280 watts of electric power.
In commercial and residential applications, the panels are coupled together to
achieve the power level desired. A typical rooftop residential system would
link 12 panels to deliver about 3500 kWh of energy, enough to meet at least
half of a typical American home’s energy needs.
Kevin from Solarworld showed me the Hillsboro plant’s main
manufacturing facility. We took an
elevator to the second floor and found ourselves in an open office that spans the
length of the plant, with large windows overlooking the production line.
It’s no wonder the cost of PV panels is dropping
precipitously. The entire production process is automated, with robots handling
virtually every task. The cavernous
production space is filled with machines linked by conveyors that move each
unit from one assembly step to the next. I only saw a handful of people working
in the assembly area. Most of them were inspectors, tasked with conducting a
rigorous round of testing to confirm that each panel produced meets
Solarworld’s very high standards.
The assembly line operates 24 hours a day, with only a
fraction of a percent of the new PV panels rejected because of defects or substandard
performance. Solarworld’s current
production line, operating at maximum output, puts out 360 Mw annually. The company is adding a new production line
in an adjacent building that will increase capacity by nearly 50 percent.
The clean energy revolution is clearly underway, and
Solarworld is a big part of it. Their technology is second to none in quality
and performance, and very competitive in cost.
I don’t have any financial incentive or otherwise to endorse
Solarworld. I just think it’s a very good company, with great technology, with
a business model that works in the new, clean energy marketplace. I expect to have solar PV on my roof in the
near future. Very likely the panels will be made by Solarworld, a ‘Made in America’ success story.
Check out this video…
Here is the link to Solarworld’s webpage… http://www.solarworld-usa.com/
Packers and Movers Gurgaon
ReplyDeleteDissemble Furniture
Some pieces of furniture can be taken apart. You would be wise to do that when you have to move bigger pieces. Things like bed frames are best taken apart and then loaded in the removal van or you will have a really hard time moving them. Sofas are a tricky cookie, so it would be best to keep them whole unless they are of the simple design that can be dissembled easily.