SOLAR TODAY - April 2010

on how networked it is to other relevant sites, not just on its design, bells and whistles. For example, customer reviews posted on nationally promoted sites may produce more queries than those posted on your own site. To maximize the bang for your marketing budget, learn the fundamentals of social media for business marketing and the basics of search engine optimization.

Don’t work incognito. People inherently trust the companies hired by their neighbors, and that translates into instant credibility for you.

When you’re on the job, take off your hardhat for a while and put on your marketing hat. You have the opportunity to analyze the neighborhood’s solar suitability and sketch out a plan to sell the neighbors.

Jyl Safier is director of marketing at Conergy, and co-founder and director of the Solar Success! Training Event co-located at the american Solar Energy Society’s National Solar Conference, solar2010.org.

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BUSINESS BRIEFS

esolaR

esolar will provide the mirror field and power tower technology for csP plants built by Ferrostaal ag.

California CSP Firms Go Global

In February, two California-based concentrating solar power (CSP) companies signed rich deals with large European power-plant developers. The deals confirmed the financial practicality of large-scale solar for baseload electricity production and the value of American technology in export markets.

On Feb. 8, the French nuclear-engineering giant Areva ( areva.com), forecasting CSP growth of 20 percent per year to 20 gigawatts by 2020, announced the purchase of Ausra ( ausra.com). Founded in Australia, Ausra moved to Mountain View, Calif., in 2007 and built a 5-megawatt (MW) demonstration plant near Bakersfield, Calif. The plant uses fresnel mirrors to focus sunlight on pipes to generate turbine steam directly, without an oil-based thermal transfer fluid.

Ausra development has been backed by venture capital funding from Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, KERN Partners, Generation Investment Management and Starfish Ventures. These investors will sell their entire stakes in Ausra.

On Feb. 18, eSolar ( esolar.com) of Pasadena, Calif., signed a deal to build CSP plants around the world in partnership with the engineering firm Ferrostaal AG ( ferrostaal.com), of Essen, Germany. ESolar is to provide the mirror field and power tower technology, and Ferrostaal, jointly owned by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co. and MAN SE of Munich, will make the power turbines and manage both contracting and financing.

In 2009 eSolar built a 5-MW pilot plant in Lancaster, Calif., and in January signed a deal to build a 2,000-MW project in China.

New Execs at Sequoia

Sequoia Solar ( sequoiasolar.com) of Solano Beach, Calif., has named Bryan Pruden as CFO, David Boylan as director of marketing and business development, and Loren Nancarrow as company spokesperson and business development representative. Pruden has worked at Intel and SAIC; Boylan comes from Helio-Power, Stellar Solar, Borrego Solar, Siliken Solar and Mercury Solar. Nancarrow is an Emmy-winning TV reporter.

Flanagan Joins Applied Materials

Applied Materials ( appliedmaterials.com) of Santa Clara, Calif., has named Joe Flanagan as senior vice president of worldwide operations and supply chain. Flanagan last served as president of Nortel Business Services.

PRODUCTS
Solar’s Smart Gets SRCC Cert

Solar’s Smart (solars-smart. com) of Melbourne, Fla.,

has achieved Solar Rating and Certification

Corp. (SRCC) certification for its Smart 10, 15 and 20 water-heating collectors. The units feature evacuated-tube arrays, factory-assembled into a lightweight aluminum frame, complete with a stainless-steel manifold. The unit is said to reduce on-site installation time up to 75 percent.

Midwest Launches DC Gear Motor for Tracking Apps

Midwest Motion Products ( mid-westmotion.com) of Watertown, Minn., has introduced a new DC gear motor with an integral brake. Model MMP-D22-376H-24V GP52-195 BR-005 runs at 24 volts of continuous direct current (VDC) and measures just 2. 25 inches ( 5. 7 cm) in diameter by 9 inches ( 22.9cm). The keyed 12-mm output shaft can produce 215 inch-lb. ( 24. 3

Nm) of continuous torque, at 10 RPM, and 443 in-lb. ( 50 Nm) peak torque at 1.7 amps. Motor windings are available for 12, 36, 48, 60 and 90 VDC. A rear shaft and mounting holes are provided for an optical encoder, available with resolutions of 32, 100, 250,

500, 1,000 and 1,024 pulses per revolution. Fully compatible speed control units are available.

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