LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 23 voted unanimously to approve a letter of support for the concept introduced by the founder U.S. Solar Solutions (USSS), who hopes to bring a solar panel factory to Lake County.
“We need to come out very strong on this,” District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown said. “We have to show them how interested we are in bringing an industry like this to Lake County.”
Craig Campbell, founder and executive director of USSS, told the BOS that his non-profit organization plans to develop a solar plant in northern California that could introduce “affordable housing, sustainable economic growth, long-term green jobs and relevant education in Lake County.”
USSS plans to build a factory at which photovoltaic (PV) panels could be manufactured, Campbell said. PV materials generate electrical power by converting the sun”s radiation into electricity.
The solar plant concept is in its “very, very early stages,” Campbell said.
Campbell told the BOS that he anticipates the demand for solar energy in the United States will increase in the next decade but that U.S. companies would not be able to meet the projected demands.
Power companies in Asia, such as South Korea”s LG Corp. and Samsung, and China”s Suntech Power, are current leaders in solar energy manufacturing and would be prepared to supply future American demands, Campbell said.
USSS has a “focus on American job creation” to meet the solar energy demands, Campbell said.
The proposed plant would manufacture PV materials and serve as a training site for interns studying “manufacturing, sales and installation within the solar industry,” Campbell said.
USSS has asked Mendocino College to spearhead the training and education aspects if the plant were built in the county, according to Campbell, who said his organization has also reached out to the college and The Pacific Gas and Electric Company for letters of support.
The proposed factory could create 150 full-time jobs with a payroll upwards of $10 million annually, Campbell said. Jobs would be in production, wholesale and supply, installation and research.
Campbell estimated the plant would need at least 30,000 square feet of land, to which Brown said, “We have some possibilities around.”
USSS, and its parent company Affordable Housing Alternatives, which operates out of the Bay Area, will begin drafting grant proposals for Department of Energy long-term funding opportunities and use private donations to provide startup funding, Campbell said.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing said she was unsure how competitive the conceptual model would be in the grant application process because Campbell”s presentation did not describe specific costs or a definite business model.
Rushing offered her support of the concept, saying, “I don”t see a downside in a letter of support.”
District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington said he supported the idea and thinks that a non-profit organization could have a better chance to succeed.
District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock said the solar industry would provide a good opportunity for Lake County. “These are the kind of jobs we want,” he said.
The BOS voted 5-0 to approve “a letter strongly endorsing this concept,” according to Brown.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
