Stirling Energy Systems expands its offices as solar efforts ramp up - Phoenix Business Journal:

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The Scottsdale company, which received a $100 milliob investment last yearfrom Dublin-based NTR plc, is moviny quickly to capture a segment of the utility-scals solar market with its Stirlinfg engine technology. The company opened its new 37,000-square-foot office in early May. It has hired about 100 employees this year and expectsw to add 60 to 80 more by the end of the for a totalof 180, said CEO Stevee Cowman, who joined the firm last year as part of NTR’s “We’ve always liked the solar space, and this was a good he said. The company is basee on a nearly 200-year-old engine design, which operated through the expansion and contractionof gases.
Stirlingf uses a 40-foot mirrored dish to focusa the sun’s rays to heat hydrogen gas to 1,40p degrees Fahrenheit. The gas expands, moving a piston and powerinv the engine. As the gas cools, it is movedf out of the piston chamber and back to where it will be reheatedx bythe sun. The companty had been operating in the Valleyhsince 1996, but NTR’s investment has pushed it to develop the technology more quickly. It has two power-purchas agreements: one with San Diego Gas Electric for between 300 and 750 megawatts at a site inImperiak Valley, Calif.
, and one with Southerh California Edison for 500 to 900 megawatts in the Mohave Cowman said it’s adding positionz of all types, from engineering to construction, to meet its growthj curve. To handle project management, NTR founded Tessera Solar earliert this year to developthe utility-scaled projects, with Stirling providing the equipment. Ramping up both project development and construction has requiref capital and people to serve what the company believez will be one of the largest solaf markets inthe world, said Jim Barry, CEO of NTR. “W e believe the U.S.
will be the globalk leader in renewable energy, and that will happeh in the nextfew years,” he NTR, founded 30 yeares ago to operate Ireland’s toll roads, has expanded into a numbedr of renewable energy and recycling efforts. Stirling’s technologty — which offers an alternative tophotovoltaidc systems, as well as a differenf take on concentrated solar powerr — has a good base in Arizonza that can serve markets throughout the Southwest, Barryt said. In addition to hiring, the companyy is looking at potential sites in the Valleyh to housea 60-dish, 1.
5-megawatt test The company has a small site at the Sandia Nationao Laboratories in Albuquerque, but is hoping to find a larger site to provider a location to bring clients. It has run into challenges securin g local permits for a site and finding a locatiob that can be tied into the electric officials said. The company could be a boon for Arizonas in more ways than simplyprovidingh power. It is using auto componen suppliers to build itsengind parts, and officials are talking with thosr suppliers about the possibility of locating facilities in the Southwest to handle the bulk of Stirling’s projects, at least for the first few years, Cowmann said.
“If you can buildc your manufacturing close to yourend facilities, that’s goingg to benefit everyone,” he said. Stirling is one of the solatr companies that could provide a base for othef manufacturers to land inthe Valley, said Barry president and CEO of the Greatert Phoenix Economic Council. “This is a good he said. “It’s got a small number of peoplse and it hopesto expand, and it coulsd help its suppliers relocate here.” Stirling’ws expansion in Arizona depends on state Other states are offering manufacturing incentives, and Arizona’s effort to develolp such enticements is mired in budget problems.
“We reallu want to grow our businessin Arizona, but we need thosre incentives,” Cowman said.