‘Solar Zone’ Articulates New, World-Class Concept

March 18, 2010 - PRLog -- The “Solar Zone” at the University of Arizona Science & Technology Park is a revolutionary, solar-centric business zone poised to significantly advance solar energy innovation and production. The Solar Zone thrusts Southern Arizona into the center of solar investment.

Far beyond a solar farm’s sea of glinting photovoltaic panels, the Solar Zone is a sweeping integration of research and development, manufacturing, green job training, education and public awareness, according John D. Grabo, director of business development for the UA Tech Park. About 200 of the UA Tech Park’s 1,345 acres, 9000 S. Rita Road, have been designated for the Solar Zone.

“The Solar Zone is the articulation of a vision to bring different aspects of the solar industry together in a supportive and competitive environment to manufacture products, create technology, attract suppliers, nurture talent, and influence the solar strategy of the region,” Grabo said. “A comprehensive, integrated solar park at this level does not exist elsewhere.”

The Solar Zone will connect selected and prequalified research centers internationally and create productive partnerships through The Global AdvantageTM program, a network of cities and regions in the United States, Canada and Europe that includes Ottawa and Berlin, committed to working collaboratively on clean-tech initiative that will:
• Create new markets;
• Enhance supply chains;
• Foster research opportunities for technology development and commercialization; and
• Create productive partnerships with relevant solar centers to investment business opportunities for Solar Zone firms.

Location, location, location
Tucson’s 350 days of sunshine make it ripe for solar power innovations. The Solar Zone at the Tech Park offers the ideal setting and several attributes not available elsewhere. These strategic advantages include:
• Location — 200 acres will cluster multiple solar generation technologies used in the marketplace, combined with next generation product development.
• Synergy — Centralizing key suppliers in the region and state is a fundamental goal.
• Speed to marketplace — The Solar Zone’s streamlined processes combined with an understanding of the competitive challenges and demands helps drive solar companies to operational much faster than anywhere else.
• Talent — The next generation of solar professionals is being developed in collaboration with industry requirements.  
• Innovative capacity — The Solar Zone is linked to the University of Arizona, is ranked among the top 20 of public research universities nationwide, and its solar efforts such as the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy (AzRISE) and programs in the Optical Sciences, Engineering, Atmospheric Sciences and Physical Sciences.

Outcomes
The Solar Zone’s collaborative approach dovetails with the community’s goals and the University of Arizona’ strong strategic focus on sustainability and renewable energy. Utilities and the research community welcome the Solar Zone’s presence and unique concept. This sweeping innovation is meant to stimulate investment for the solar industry and create a distinct competitive advantage for solar industry investment and jobs.

Grabo expects the Solar Zone to attract power generation and be solar thought leaders. Energy companies, manufacturers of solar panels and other materials, researchers, start-up companies, and educational institutions should be to attracted to the Solar Zone. This is the environment to create, test and deploy current and future solar technologies.

Tucson Electric Power (TEP) is committed to and actively engaged in the direction of the Solar Zone. The Solar Zone’s success will support TEP’s efforts to satisfy Arizona’s Renewable Energy Standard, which calls on the state’s utilities to increase their use of renewable power each year until it represents 15 percent of their retail energy in 2025.

The Solar Zone also will play a key role in deployment of solar energy technology, resulting in the wider acceptance of a solar energy use and driving down costs. The Solar Zone’s demonstration garden and public awareness center will showcase how solar power works, how it can be used and how it helps the environment, will be central to the Solar Zone’s goal of stimulating interest in and awareness of clean energy.

The Solar Zone’s education goal will extend to on-site classrooms where local institutions can develop workforce-training programs with industry input for solar energy-related jobs, such as technicians and installers.

Anchor tenant
The Solar Zone’s first-of-its-kind integration attracted Bell Independent Power Corporation (BIPC) of Rochester, NY, which announced in January that it would be the anchor tenant of the Solar Zone with its state-of-the-art 5-MW Concentrated Solar Power plant with a Thermal Storage System — the first in the world.

BIPC will harvest Tucson’s unique, renewable natural resource: The Heat. Its proprietary Thermal Storage System will enable the concentrated solar power plant to generate electricity on cloudy days and after sunset, reducing cost and overcoming the major limitation of solar power — it only works days. Concentrated solar power gathers the sun’s heat, rather than its light. Photovoltaic arrays at airports and on building rooftops convert solar light photons into electricity.

The impetus for the BIPC project was a TEP request for proposal. TEP has asked the Arizona Corporation Commission to approve its agreement to purchase power from the plant over a 20-year period. The plant is expected begin providing power to the company’s customers in May 2011.

Tucson has been supportive and positive of the solar industry. “We look forward to the community’s continued support through TREO (Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Inc.) and its ongoing efforts to attract economic development incentives,” President Joseph Bell, Jr., said when announcing the firm’s decision to locate at the Solar Zone.

The Solar Zone at The Tech Park in Tucson offers a sweeping, integrated approach that will elevate Tucson as a world-leader in development solar power’s prowess and investment potential.


UA Tech Park contributes nearly $3.0 billion annually to Pima County’s economy and is one of the region’s largest employment centers hosting 39 business and educational organizations and employing more than 7,000 people including four Fortune 500 companies. For fifteen years, the Tech Park has contributed to regional economic development by advancing the University of Arizona’s research mission and its efforts at technology development and technology commercialization. The Tech Park has been nationally recognized as one of the premier university research parks in North America.  For more information about the Tech Park, visit http://www.uatechpark.org.