Region’s solar future looks bright

The sun is shining on the region’s solar industry, and Vancouver is well positioned to catch a few rays, according to a report released Tuesday by Greenlight Greater Portland.

But the Portland-Vancouver area faces tough competition if it wants to bask in all the opportunities that solar technology can bring.

Greenlight, a private consortium of business leaders from Oregon and Southwest Washington, compared Portland and Vancouver to six other metro areas that are vying to become national leaders on solar manufacture, design and use. In this area’s favor:

-- There’s room to grow, and the price is right. To lease 200,000 square feet in Portland or Vancouver would cost around $1.3 million per year, compared to $2.9 million in San Jose, Calif.
-- Local tax laws are good for solar. Oregon ranks 10th and Washington 11th for best business tax climate, according to the Tax Foundation. Tax incentives by both states would encourage solar manufacturing construction.
-- The work force is strong. About 20,000 people already work in the electronics and semiconductor industries in the Portland-Vancouver area, and their job skills transfer to solar.
-- Educators are ready. Washington State University Vancouver, Clark College, and other local universities have programs that can train more workers as the industry grows.

But while Vancouver and Portland rank high on a number of measures, they are not ahead of the pack on most. For example, Austin, Texas, has a better tax climate. Phoenix, Ariz., has a larger solar-ready work force.

“We may not be on top for most of the metrics, but when you look at all of the data together, we come out looking quite strong,” said Gillian Floren, Greenlight’s vice president of marketing and business retention.

Though solar technology has existed for years, the industry is still relatively small. But 2008 and 2009 mark the dawn of a new era for solar.

Washington electric utilities have to obtain 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Oregon utilities must reach 25 percent renewable by 2025. A wind- and sun-development boom is just taking off to meet those requirements.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress on Oct. 1 approved a set of national solar incentives, including a 30 percent tax credit for solar startups, and a tax credit that gives homeowners a break on solar panels.

Already, at least three Vancouver businesses — Silicon & Solar LLC, Columbia Energy Partners and Isonics — have a stake in the solar industry. So do a number of Oregon companies. Southwest Washington and Portland have a deep well of expertise on alternative energy issues that goes well beyond solar, as U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell pointed out while in Vancouver last week.

“There is a huge opportunity for this country to move ahead as world leaders on energy. And the path forward goes through Vancouver,” Cantwell said Oct. 8. “The resources, experience, transmission, investment strategy — it’s here.”

Now Greenlight Greater Portland hopes to use its data to bolster that argument. The economic development group, whose board members include Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell, sent a team to the Solar Power International expo in San Diego, Calif., this week to promote the Vancouver-Portland area.

“We wanted to have a thorough analysis of this region’s strengths with this report,” Floren said by phone from San Diego. “I hope in some small way, we’re making a difference.”

Courtney Sherwood covers technology and energy. Reach her at 360-735-4553 or courtney.sherwood@columbian.com.