Nanotechnology

[FreeGrass]

What do a California solar company poised to build the world's largest nanotechnology manufacturing plant and the builder of next-generation, advanced energy storage devices have in common?

Answer: They both chose Oregon as the place where they will produce their 21st century technologies.

Catching the next wave of business development

I recently attended events celebrating the decision of both of these companies to invest hundreds of millions of dollars here in Oregon.

California solar manufacturer Solexant Corp.’s commitment to build the world's largest nanotechnology manufacturing facility in Gresham means Oregon has now caught the next wave of the renewable energy revolution — thin-film solar — sweeping the globe. And it comes after Oregon has already established itself as the leading site for solar manufacturing in the U.S. with such firms as SolarWorld, Sanyo Solar and PV Powered.

Solexant, a developer of third-generation, ultrathin-film solar technology, said the plant will be its first commercial-scale nanocrystal manufacturing facility. Upon completion, the 100-megawatt plant will be Oregon's first thin-film solar manufacturing plant and the largest nanotechnology manufacturing facility in the world.

The factory will initially be housed in an existing 150,000-square-foot facility with plans to construct a new facility in 2011. It will employ as many as 200 Oregonians, and the company plans to build additional 100-megawatt lines in Oregon after the first line becomes operational.

Based in San Jose, Calif., Solexant produces the first ultrathin-film solar cell that incorporates high-performance, inorganic nanocrystals on flexible substrates. The technology platform — originally developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab — can utilize currently available and emerging high-efficiency materials to dramatically reduce manufacturing costs.

The second announcement came earlier this month in Albany. After receiving a stimulus grant of $21.3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, Oregon Freeze Dry, in partnership with Seattle-based EnerG2, broke ground on a manufacturing facility that will produce material for the next generation of ultracapacitors (an advanced energy storage device similar to a battery).

The facility is in Albany's Enterprise Zone so state incentives were instrumental in helping the participants move forward with partnership agreements necessary for the project. Business Oregon, the state's economic development department, partnered with the local economic development agency (Albany-Millersburg Economic Development Corporation) to provide community support. In addition, we will continue to work to integrate this project with the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnology Institute's research initiatives.

Construction is expected to sustain at least 50 jobs through the commissioning of the plant. The plant is expected to create at least 35 permanent jobs for local workers as operators, technicians, engineers and managers. The plant will be completed on an 18-month fast track and produce electrode carbon for use in ultracapacitors for electric vehicles. The total project cost will be approximately $29 million.

The plant will be the first facility in the world dedicated to the commercial scale production of nanostructured, synthetic, high-performance carbon electrode material. Oregon Freeze Dry, the world leader in contract freeze-drying, has been an EnerG2 R&D manufacturing partner since 2006.

These first-of-their-kind commitments by Solexant and EnerG2 came upon the heels of Facebook's recent decision to not only build its first company-owned data center near Prineville, but immediately double the size of the facility. Facebook now plans to build a 160,000-square-foot expansion that will be connected to the first phase development of the data center.

These three investments in Oregon’s future reflect my efforts over the last eight years as Governor to help re-engineer the state’s economy to compete and win in the 21st century’s global economy. Through incentives and help from local partners, such as those in Gresham and Albany, we continue to attract the kind of companies that will employ thousands of Oregonians for decades to come.