Sunshine in Ohio isn’t optimal for solar panels, but a fledgling company called GreenField Solar Corp. had a bright idea — an array of aluminum mirrors that focus light onto extremely small and efficient solar cells.
Last year, the first of the 18-foot solar arrays was installed at NASA Glenn Research Center, and 10 of the devices are being installed in Mentor to help power its senior center.
GreenField Solar and a second company, Immediate Pharmaceutical Services Inc. in Avon Lake, plan to each create 200 jobs in the next 16 years thanks to performance tax credits from the state that were approved on Monday.
The more jobs they create, the more commercial activities taxes they will avoid, according to Robert Grevey, spokesman for the Ohio Tax Credit Authority. If they don’t keep their promises, the taxpayer isn’t out any money, Grevey said.
“It’s a performance-based incentive to defray the cost of doing business,” Grevey said.
GreenField plans to put its headquarters in the old Bayer Diagnostic building in Oberlin and expand its fledgling manufacturing facility on Root Road in North Ridgeville, said Glenn Hasman, chief financial officer.
“It concentrates the sun’s light,” Hasman said of the concentrating photovoltaic system. “We think this is very unique.”
Jim Latham, operations director, said each device costs about $10,000 and produces 1,500 watts — about enough to power half a house in Ohio. In Phoenix, where the sun’s rays pack a bigger punch, one would be enough to power a house, although the devices are not being marketed for residential use.
In time, Latham said the company hopes to sell each solar array for under $5,000 with a target price of $3 a watt — less than half the price per watt of conventional solar panels.
GreenField was awarded two 60 percent job creation tax credits, each for eight-year terms, in support of the company’s projects in Oberlin and North Ridgeville, according to the tax authority.
The value of the tax credits are estimated at a combined $850,000 over the term of the agreements, and the company would be required to maintain operations at the project sites for 16 years.
Greenfield developed and has begun manufacturing concentrating photovoltaic systems, which reduce costs associated with photovoltaic power. Its combined $9.8 million projects are expected to create 200 positions and retain three jobs.
Oberlin City Manager Eric Norenberg and North Ridgeville Mayor Dave Gillock were bullish on GreenField’s plans.
“We’re thrilled,” Norenberg said. “This says a lot about the community’s commitment to sustainability and renewable energy.”
Gillock called the tax credits awarded to GreenField “terrific” and described the company’s solar device as “a metal-tubed cactus with mirrors.”
Gillock said there’s plenty of room for growth at GreenField’s manufacturing facility on Root Road near Dreco Inc.
North Ridgeville obtained a state roadway grant for up to $400,000 to pay 50 percent of the cost of building a concrete roadway with storm sewers and sidewalks to the GreenField site, he said.
Meanwhile, Immediate Pharmaceutical Services was awarded a 50 percent job creation tax credit for an eight-year term in support of the company’s facility in Avon Lake, according to the state.
The value of the tax credit is estimated at $1 million over the term, and the company would be required to maintain operations at the project site for 16 years, according to the state.
Immediate Pharmaceutical Services operates a prescription mail service center and will provide Catalyst Health Solutions’ clients with an in-house mail service option. The $4.2 million project is expected to create 200 positions and retain 90 jobs.
Tom Garvey, the company’s president, did not return phone calls Tuesday seeking comment.
The projects were approved at the monthly meeting Monday of the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, a five-member independent board consisting of tax and economic development professionals that review and approve applications for state tax credit assistance.
Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.
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