Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Sen. Harry Reid helps ceremonially activate a solar power plant Saturday with, from left, SNWA General Manager Pat Mulroy, TWC Construction CEO Matt Ryba, Amonix founder Vahan Garboushian and Amonix CEO Brian Robertson.
By Kyle B. Hansen (contact) 
Saturday, May 15, 2010 | 7:32 p.m.
Sun archives
- Energy chief stuns environmentalists with renewable energy approach (5-11-2010)
- Solar manufacturer First Solar buying developer NextLight Renewable Power (4-28-2010)
- Planned wind-turbine plant gathers gust of momentum (4-28-2010)
- Plant to bring green-job windfall (3-12-2010)
- Companies announce plans for wind turbine manufacturing plant (3-11-2010)
A solar power company plans to build a manufacturing plant in the Las Vegas area, creating about 300 jobs in what officials say is an emerging industry for Nevada.
The company, Amonix, announced the new facility at a press conference Saturday where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid showed off a solar power generating plant built by Amonix at a Southern Nevada Water Authority facility.
The location of the manufacturing facility has not been announced. Amonix CEO Brian Robertson said the company is considering three sites and expects to make a decision in the next few weeks.
Once the site is selected, construction will begin immediately and the facility should be operational by the end of the year, Robertson said.
The company already has facilities in Southern California but chose to expand in Southern Nevada.
“Nevada is a friendly place to do business. It’s less expensive than California,” Robertson said.
The company is also getting a $5.9 million tax credit as from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
Reid said the new facility will help to diversify Nevada’s economy.
“We know that we can’t depend forever on the gambling industry, leisure-time business, although it’s going to continue to thrive and do well,” he said. “Mining is good, but the one thing we haven’t looked to in the past is green energy. We’ve got a lot of it here and we’re going to continue to develop that.”
“I’d like to have tens of thousands of people working on these jobs, but that’s coming,” Reid said. “I think the future is so bright for what we can do in Nevada with renewable energy.”
The regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Jared Blumenfeld, said Nevada will play a key role as the nation moves toward using more sustainable energy.
“Many people think about solar power, they think about what it can look like on their rooftop, but very few understand that the future of solar power and renewable energy largely is going to be in this state and in Arizona,” Blumenfeld said. “When you think about the sunshine, this is where it is. These kinds of projects show us what can be done on a utilities scale. The amount of power here is really starting to be significant.”
The solar plant unveiled Saturday is part of the water authority’s River Mountains Water Treatment Facility in Henderson. Its six concentrated photovoltaic panels are capable of producing 308 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power 50 medium-sized homes for a year, and unlike traditional solar power plants, they use no water.
“Nothing is more connected than water and power,” said water authority General Manager Pat Mulroy. “The two are inseparable. You need water to generate electricity, except for these lovelies behind me, and you need energy in order to move and treat drinking water.”
Mulroy said the water authority is the largest user of power in the Las Vegas Valley.
The water authority’s plant is a model for others to follow, Blumenfeld said.
“A huge amount of energy across the United States goes into moving water from one place to another and to cleaning the water at the end of the day,” he said. “These kinds of solutions need to be done everywhere. And in order to do them everywhere, you need to show they can be done one place well.”
Gary Wood, the authority’s renewable energy program manager, said the solar plant is part of the organization’s effort to diversify its power sources, but it is also a research and development project.
The authority has been working closely with Amonix and UNLV to learn as much as possible about solar power while installing the plant.
The cost of the plant was $2.1 million. It includes about $250,000 worth of infrastructure improvements that can support more solar panels if the authority wants to expand the plant in the future, Wood said.
The solar power plant is different than many others in that it uses lenses to magnify the sun’s rays before capturing the power.
The panels also move to follow the sun throughout the day and have less of an impact on the desert.
The system is more efficient and less expensive than traditional photovoltaic panels, Amonix founder Vahan Garboushian said.
“I’m convinced it’s going to be, in the next five to ten years, the leading and dominate technology in large-scale solar electric generation,” he said.
You should read the people freaking out on the RJ story. WOW, they think its a conspiracy : )
Just glad to hear our economy is getting a little diversified.
308 KW is 1/3 of a megawatt for 2.1 million dollars. What a waste of money. This is the prob;em with this green eergy initative. You spend a ton of money and get nothing out of it. Nevada SolarOne in Boulder City is 64 MW or 180 times the capacity. Yeah, I know it's photovoltaic and requires no water, but it's a terrible rate of return on taxpayer money.
The country is swimming in natural gas and yet Obama and Reid want to chase wind and solar even though the cost is much higher.
Great news, 300 jobs is 300 jobs.
2.1 Million to service 50 homes. Let's see now, that's just the base of $42,000 per household, not including profit, maintenance, operating expenses, and reserves for replacements. Add the Cap & Trade Tax on top of that and we won't even be able to afford the mandatory DemoRamItThroughWithOutReadingIt PassItQuicklySoWeCanFindOutWhatsInIt HealthCare insurance. What a disaster being rammed on us.
Why waste the money on solar when we have ele. at the hoover dam and natural gas in the ground.
Cars,should run on natural its clean and just as safe as gas.
When will Washington wake up to OUR needs not theres.
I'm old enough to remember what should have been the lessons of the "energy crisis" back in the 70's.
As "drill, baby, drill" fossil oil is wreaking havoc on the environment and the livelihoods of our gulf coast citizens, I'm VERY encouraged by this news.
We should have been serious about this YEARS ago...if for no other reason, our national security depends on the success of these projects.
Our former President and Vice President, oilmen, were not the only ones who sold our soul for oil..they were just the most recent, and the most obvious.
We've had 40 years of pragmatism when it comes to creating new enery sources...enough!
Projects like these represent the CHANGE I voted for. May this be just the beginning!
I feel Independence Day coming at last!
Stuart & Robert Wyman-Cahall
Las Vegas, NV 89142
The problem with the Hoover Dam is it needs water to work. A 2008 paper in Water Resources Research states that at current usage allocation and projected climate trends, there is a 50% chance that lakes Mead could drop below minimum power pool elevation as early as 2017. At that point it would be nothing more than a tourist attraction and former power plant.
300 jobs is good news. We need to keep manufacturing cutting edge technology in the USA.
Harry wouldn't miss a picture opportunity. We will probably hear from him that he was responsible for this, and he alone by giving his support created jobs. He needs to be voted out.
There's nothing bad about this at all. If we had a solar panel bubble instead of a housing bubble we'd be swimming in clover. Thanks Senator Reid for restoring our faith.
What a joke...... just like he said before he had saved or made new jobs for around $325,250 per employee....... Obama needs to to show where he went to school or go back bad math to me........
Three hundred new jobs is good. Hopefully this enterprise will thrive and bring many more.
The 2.1 million was for prototype development, instrumentation, and research.
The cost of mass produced solar panels would be at least 50% less.
You can tour the UNLV site and get the facts. Unfortunately, the cost of this research project was not put in proper perspective in the article.
I hate democrats when they are trying put me back on job. Unemployment is the heaven!!!!!!!
Natural gas should be the focus instead of these hyper expensive sources of energy.
this is great, however i would like to see solar panels on the roof of every commercial building, loads of space for it..
Comment removed by moderator. Name-calling.
These jobs will only last if there's a market for the products, if not they will evaporate like fart in the wind.
Thats why we need a carbon tax.
Natural Gas Wells foul fresh water supplies. The petroleum industry does not pay the full cost of the energy it produces it gets "entitlements" from the government. Do you really think those "oily " characters are going to pay for the slick ?
We need First Solar to open a manufacturing plant here! They have over 2 gigawatts, almost 30 million of their panels worth of jobs in the SW U.S. They can not make the panels fast enough and almost all of them are imported from Malaysia. They are the only solar company to exceed grid parity that I know of. This is the plant that needs to be built!
PV install on homes pays for itself in 7 years. People complain about the install cost. Which becomes zero in seven years...
oh my! harry was instrumental in over 1000 people losing their jobs at Yucca, he advocates a company who recieved a 5.9 million dollar tax break, at the expense of taxpayers, and nevadans who will see no taxes from this company, he created 300 jobs within a company that hopes to be in production within the next 5-10 years? It will produce power for 50 homes for a year? and this is a reason to re-elct Harry? This is nothing.When he gets jobs for the thousands of Nevadans, reduces our states debt, gets rid of illegals, and puts as at the top of the nations education system, then we can consider him as an asset to Nevada.
Harry is the Senate Majority leader in Washington DC. If Nevada was his focus, we would be at the top of his priority list. He throws us a bone here and there to make us think he's got our best interest at heart, to make us believe he's looking out for Nevadans, when he could care less, so long as he gets the meat off that bone he throws us.
he felt it appropriate to send Sue Lowden chickens for her comments, I feel it perfectly justifiable to send Harrys office a jackass for his.
And in Harry's next propaganda ad, he'll claim he created 30,000 jobs for Nevadans instead of the actual 300.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave!
I hear that the solar facility will be located in Sandy Valley...
after researching this co a little more, that 5.9 million is not true. the tax credit is 9.5 million. The 5.9 million is a portion of the tax credit they will use to build the Nevada facility. So, in essence, they are building this facility with the tax payers dollars, and like Wal Mart, they will pay no taxes for a certain period of time.They are also based out of California. Not as rosey as Harry wants you to believe.
I beg to differ the oil slick is very rosey for harry ! Lipton nice obfuscating research ; while taxpayers are bailing out you rich people.
there is no obfuscating at all. Look it up for yourself.9.5 million in tax credits and 5.9 million of that is being used to build the facility. So, in essence they are using taxpayer dollars to build this place and they will recieve credit on their Nevada taxes for a period of years, just like Wal Mart. And, I am by no means rich!!!and lets be clear, who is bailing out the rich, and lets not forget the illegal bailout. Just someone staying on top of what our politicians are doing with our money and what they lead you to believe they are doing and convincing you it is good for you.
and we all knew the liberals would use the oil spill to their advantage,and scare tactics, that see what happens when we drill at home, cap and trade is the way to go, get our oil from Saudi Arabia, yeah, thats a good liberal idea too, don't you think? I'm having second thoughts about this spill being an accident.Political gain, whatever it takes.
Look...Rome wasn't built in a day...nor will expanding the job base in Las Vegas.Something Las Vegas needs badly. It can NO longer all be about gambling if Vegas expects to survive another hard blow like this. This is a wake up call not everyone is hearing.
Until we get serious about our energy situation, we will continue to squander and screw up the place.
Once we realize there's no free lunch, that we have gobbled and trashed our way to total dependence on somebody else, then we will have enslaved ourselves again, the product of our desire for convenience and comfort.
Until we use less than we have we will rely on the grandchildren to bail us out, my fellow resource hogs.
didnt dingy harry have an ad out earlier this year that he was/did create 40,000 green jobs...
just 39,700 short....
Nothing like getting a photo op in an election year is there Harry. And of course we will have yet another boondoble "green" energy company that will vanish with the wind in another 2-3 year with lots of taxpayer money and not ever paying a dime into the state tax coffers.
I don't think we should worry about our grandchildren when our kids don't have jobs now.Supply side theories are not working. We should create jobs now. With the trillion dollar bailouts we really don't know the value of money,real estate or assets right now. We should do like we did in the Depression and put people, especially the young, to work. This could ruin the rest of their lives. I see no down side in investing in renewable energy. The old guard who are invested in oil,coal,and electricity may lose but certainly not our progeny. Research always costs more than full scale production. When was a manufacturing plant last opened in this city ? My parents grew up in the depression and FDR invested in them and I don't think I'm worse off. Kids several generations hence will have a cooler and cleaner atmosphere if we make these changes to our infrastructure and they won't have money if there parents didn't have jobs.
Sometime ago I read where the world's electricity needs could be met by solar panels covering 3% of the desert lands of the world.
This project is a step in that direction. This project is a step toward the diversification of the economy of this region. We have plenty of desert. Lets make the solar panels here, near the desert, and set them up on the desert. This is the beginning of very good things.
From David Curtis..
"PV install on homes pays for itself in 7 years. People complain about the install cost. Which becomes zero in seven years"
It costs an average of $25k-$30k to make a home in Las Vegas self sufficent with PV and if you use batteries so you don't have to draw power of NVE at night that's another $3-5k every three years to replace them. And current panels in production only last 6-10 years.
It's not worth the investment until the price comes down and the technology gets better.
And I believe someone mentioned Hoover Dam, it actually doesn't create that much electricity and of course California has the rights to 98% of it.
Diversify, Diversify!!! This is great for our region, great step towards the right direction. Hopefully more is to come. When I think solar panels I think South Nevada. Bring more of these companies from California or any other state, lets show them that South Nevada is the place to build and grow their businesses.
You bean counters know the price of everything and the cost of nothing. This is about challenging the old guard ! The cost will be less after full development . a sustainable cool and clean atmosphere is priceless. Did they do a cost benefit analysis when they built the Boulder(Hoover) Dam ? - no they just went for it ! We're still reaping it's benefits. Infact FDR had an ongoing debate with Wendell Wilkie over privitizing public projects. Hindsight tells us its more important to just get these things done. I should mention that Hoover(a Republican) started this publicly funded dam.
The same all conservative - no ; It's too expensive, It's not ready. Your ramming it through after a year of foot draging. Lets show these no accounts what ramming is! Solar Panels and Windmills now !!!!! - Both power plants and factories- With or without public or private funds
Just as the "organic" craze did, so the same will happen for "green".
"It's better for you, it's healthier, it's safer", blahh, blahh, blahh. Well, when they use these spinning words, the cost is NEVER cheaper...it is much more expensive. So, how much is "green" gonna cost?
Blah Ellsbells you work for nv energy.
I think solar panels will cause cancer!!
hookershaky, funny guy!!! sure, go ahead, we have no money, we have no jobs, we are inendated by illegals and the billions they cost us yearly, but, go ahead, spend nearly 6 million,(taxpayer dollars mind you) build this facility,create 300 jobs and then tell us in 5-10 years it will be in full production. good job. Long term alternative sources are good, but honey, we are in crisis today, and Harry is doing nothing about today to get us on the upside of state devastation, and is not worth, re-electing him for this expensive advanture, today. It is not in our best interest today, financially, or economically.
and a trikle downer Republican empty suit will Help us ??????
For Harry, it's not about doing the right thing, it is just all about Harry...
I wonder how many of these 300 new jobs will go to actual residents of Nevada, and how many will go to people that relocate from other areas.
good question, jbonello
If it were your plant, who ya gonna call?
Locals who don't know a langley from a watt, a lumen from an ohm?
Or import the pro from Dover who guarantees perfection the first time and has the track record and equipment in hand to prove to you?
Any industry that relies on government subsidies will eventually fail. They only way "green" enery will work is when the technology is perfected and the free market will literally buy into it.
A California based company, using California workers to construct a solar power facility, staffed with California workers to serve the citizens of California, but using Nevada tax dollars to construct and operate.
Thank you Harry...
exactly Larry. hookershaky, so you are willing to settle for less and something that does nothing for Nevada except cost us money, just because a democrat says its good?
The choice is ours, yours and mine. We can stay with business as usual and preside over an economy that continues to destroy its natural support systems and spend millions on national security until we destroys ourselves, or we can adopt Plan B and be the generation that changes direction, moving the world onto a path of sustained progress. The choice will be made by our generation and will affect life on earth for all generations to come. Where is your vision? Can't you see the signs of the times? Hurricanes, floods, glaciers melting, draughts, species going extinct, oceans polluted, wars over oil, food supplies vanishing....I can go on and on. Wake up!
Thank you Harry for egniting a small vision of what we could be.