Comments on: Portland, The Emerging Solar Hub?

By: New York Plan Bets on Solar Thermal for $175M in Savings | Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:02:24 +0000

[...] the exclusive dream of the sunny southwest. Germany has long been a solar technology leader, Portland has a chance at becoming a large solar hub, and neighbor New Jersey has a university campus that [...]

By: – Latest

– Latest — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:39:24 +0000

[...] Portland, The Emerging Solar Hub? [...]

By: Leon Kaye

Leon Kaye — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:07:35 +0000

In the end it's a noble effort, and true, much of the success depends on tax breaks. But oil will dry up–I don't know when, but it will. Personally, the feed-in tariff approach that some other countries have used seems to be the way to go . . .

By: Tsvieps

Tsvieps — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:43:53 +0000

I think us ex hippies should stick to coffee. I have an unshaded south facing roof in SW Portland. Our brilliant collection of Fed, State & local govts will give me $12,500 in subsidies to put a 2 KW peak power solar system on my roof. Net cost to me is $1500, good deal. But the power generated would be $200 per year. So collectively, us hippies are buying a system that will take over 70 years to break even…longer given maintenance and replacing the electronics that convert the DC to AC power. Wind power and gas fired power is about 1/7 the cost. Whose economy are we boosting? …oh well, no problem, we will get the rich to pay for this feel good bondogle…hope they do not leave town.

By: Cal Solar Eng

Cal Solar Eng — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 04:24:48 +0000

Portland is already the leader in people who would want solar panels- its time they put all that hippie, coffee and breakfast place loving to good use and boost our economy. I have faith in your Ptown

By: A Quiz For Families Who Want to Recycle Cans | Energy Goes Green

A Quiz For Families Who Want to Recycle Cans | Energy Goes Green — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:11:52 +0000

[...] Portland, The Emerging Solar Hub? | Triple Pundit: People, Planet … [...]

By: Leon Kaye

Leon Kaye — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:53:33 +0000

Thanks for the clarification–I'm hardly an expert on Portland, but sure loved visiting there and am glad to hear they are getting some business. And I stand by my comment that the coffee, Powell's books, and light rail are the envy of the west!

By: Cbksk

Cbksk — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:37:32 +0000

It has more to do with the failed semiconductor fabrication facilities left over from the dot com bubble.

In 2004 there were 3 vacant ones in PDX, including one that had been completed but never manufactured anything.

The creative destruction from the dot com bubble provided the cheaper infrastructure for the solar business in PDX.