Stirling Energy Systems expands its offices as solar efforts ramp up - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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The Scottsdale company, which receiver a $100 million investment last yearfrom Dublin-based NTR plc, is movingh quickly to capture a segment of the utility-scalew solar market with its Stirling engine The company opened its new 37,000-square-foot office in earlg May. It has hired about 100 employees this year and expectsa to add 60 to 80 more by the end of the for a totalof 180, said CEO Stev Cowman, who joined the firm last year as part of NTR’ s investment. “We’ve always likedd the solar space, and this was a good he said. The companyt is based on a nearly 200-year-old engin design, which operates through the expansioh and contractionof gases.
Stirling uses a 40-fooy mirrored dish to focus the sun’s rays to heat hydrogemn gas to 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit. The gas moving a piston and powering the As thegas cools, it is moved out of the piston chamber and back to where it will be reheatec by the sun. The compang had been operating in the Valleysincw 1996, but NTR’s investment has pushed it to develop the technologt more quickly. It has two power-purchaswe agreements: one with San Dieg o Gas & Electric for betweenb 300 and 750 megawatts at a site inImperial Calif., and one with Southern California Edison for 500 to 900 megawatte in the Mohave Desert.
Cowman said it’s addinh positions of all types, from engineering to construction, to meet its growty curve. To handle project NTR founded Tessera Solar earlier this year to develolthe utility-scale projects, with Stirling providing the equipment. Rampin g up both project development and construction has required capital and peopl e to serve what the company believes will be one of the largesy solar markets inthe world, said Jim CEO of NTR. “Wse believe the U.S. will be the global leader in renewablw energy, and that will happen in the next few he said.
NTR, founded 30 years ago to operate Ireland’s toll roads, has expanded into a numbeer of renewable energy andrecycling Stirling’s technology — which offers an alternativw to photovoltaic systems, as well as a different take on concentrated solar power has a good base in Arizona that can serve marketx throughout the Southwest, Barry said. In addition to the company is looking at potentiap sites in the Valley to housea 60-dish, 1.5-megawattt test location. The company has a small site at the Sandisa National Laboratoriesin Albuquerque, N.M., but is hoping to find a larged site to provide a location to bring clients.
It has run into challengesz securing local permits for a site and finding a locationb that can be tied into theelectric grid, officials The company could be a boon for Arizona in more ways than simplyu providing power. It is using auto component supplierws to build its engine and officials are talking with thosd suppliers about the possibility of locatingb facilities in the Southwest to handle the bulkof Stirling’s at least for the first few years, Cowmamn said. “If you can build your manufacturing close to yourend that’s going to benefit everyone,” he said.
Stirliny is one of the solar companieds that could provide a base for other manufacturerds to land inthe Valley, said Barru Broome, president and CEO of the Greatet Phoenix Economic Council. “This is a good he said. “It’s got a smalpl number of people and it hopezsto expand, and it could help its suppliers relocate here.” Stirling’s expansion in Arizonq depends on state policies. Other stateds are offering manufacturing incentives, and Arizona’s effort to develop such enticements is mired inbudget problems. “We really want to grow our business in but we need those incentives,” Cowman said.