Convention center studies solar panels

Nashville’s new convention center, already set to have a green roof, probably will have a solar one, too.

The Convention Center Authority has hired a local consulting firm to explore options for solar panels on top of the Music City Center, the $585 million building under construction downtown. An installation on the roof above the ballroom on the building’s north end would make the facility one of the most high-profile in Middle Tennessee to use the alternative energy source.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has a program that allows building owners that meet certain requirements to get credits for the electricity they generate through the sun’s energy and feed back into the power grid.

“The building is unique enough and obviously prominent enough that it can serve as an example to other property owners, as a testimonial to the long-term value of solar,” Mayor Karl Dean said Thursday. “I don’t want to do a project just to have panels up there. I want a real, tangible benefit for the city.”

The consulting firm, Energy Source Partners, will look at “small,” “medium” and “large” solar options for the convention center, including costs, energy savings, financing structures and maintenance. Ron Merville, the company’s president and CEO, said 50 kilowatts or less is considered small by TVA standards, while 200 or more is considered large.

Holly McCall, a spokeswoman for the convention center authority, said the Music City Center was designed to accommodate solar panels and they fit within the project’s budget, though a specific amount of money has not been set aside. While installing the panels would not lift the facility’s LEED certification above the silver level that is already expected, Dean said, it would add to the project’s energy efficiency.

McCall said Energy Source Partners, which opened for business in 2008, had the most experience of the six firms that applied for the job. Merville, a licensed professional engineer who has worked on some 500 public works projects for Metro, said his company’s solar projects have included the HCA headquarters near Centennial Park, a C.B. Ragland Co. building on Second Avenue South and a wastewater treatment plant under construction in Franklin.

Energy Source Partners also could do a Music City Center installation. Merville said the center, which is scheduled to open in about a year, is “a perfect site” for solar panels.

“Solar would help offset the electrical costs in the center — and do it with renewable energy,” he said.

The authority will pay Energy Source Partners $125 an hour, but the total payment can’t exceed $25,000, according to the contract. The firm is expected to deliver its report in 30 to 60 days.

A four-acre green roof is already being built atop the Music City Center. Dean said solar panels would make the undulating roof even more eye-catching.

“This roof is unlike any other roof that has ever been built in Nashville,” the mayor said. “The roof is visible from the interstates. We’ve been very conscious of the fact that the roof needs to be something special.”

Chinese solar panels exemplify trade problems

The recent visit by China's Vice President Xi Jinping highlighted the many inequities in international trade resulting from cheap manufacturing there. CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports that to get an idea of what American companies are up against, take a look at the solar panel industry. The Chinese are gaining market share there by leaps and bounds.

Business is heating up for Randy Bishop, owner of Verengo Solar Plus, one of the top residential solar panel installers in California.

"We have added 400 jobs. We expect to add 400 this year as well. These are great jobs that are going to stay here in the U.S.," Bishop said.

Fueling the growth are inexpensive solar panels from China, significantly cheaper than ones made in the United States.

"For a house, it would be probably be on the order of $3-to-5 thousand more expensive to go with U.S. panels. Customers more than nine times out of 10 vote with their wallet" and buy the Chinese panels, Bishop said.

While installers might welcome the Chinese imports, American panel makers claim the Chinese are unfairly dumping panels on the U.S., killing good U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Last year the biggest U.S. panel maker closed a plant near L.A.; 100 jobs were lost. A dozen American manufacturers have gone bankrupt, closed down or downsized.

"Just a few years ago, Chinese products were less than 10 percent of the U.S. market. Today they average about half of the U.S. market," said Tim Brightbill, an attorney representing seven American manufacturers.

Brightbill's clients are suing to have the U.S. Commerce Department to slap import taxes on Chinese panels. They say the Chinese solar industry is propped up by huge government subsidies -- a violation of international trade rules.

"The Department of Commerce estimates that China grants more than $30 billion in subsidies to its industries and all U.S. subsidies amount to $1 billion," Brightbill said.

John Baumstark, president of Suniva, says a trade war with China helps nobody. The Georgia panel maker is expanding his plant. He says he has faith in American ingenuity.

"Cost is an important component, but it's not everything. Suniva has managed to grow by continuing to innovate each and every year," Baumstark said.

"We would significantly slow our growth if solar panel costs got more expensive," Randy Bishop the solar panel installer said.

Bishop agrees a trade war could be a disaster, just as record numbers of Americans are turning to the sun for energy. A Commerce Department decision to levy new taxes on Chinese panels is expected this summer.

Boeing's South Carolina 787 line to run on solar power

The Boeing Co. will power its second 787 final assembly line in South Carolina solely using renewable energy, the company said Tuesday.

The aerospace company is partnering with South Carolina Electric and Gas for the project, which will include covering the roof of Boeing's North Charleston site with thin-film solar laminate panels. The panels are owned and will be maintained by the utility.

"Our 787 Dreamliner is manufactured using fewer hazardous materials and designed to consume less fuel, and produce fewer emissions," said Jim McNerney, Boeing's chief executive, in a statement. It only makes sense that our business operations in South Carolina reflect the environmental progressiveness of the airplane we'll build here."

This solar installation will provide up to 2.6 megawatts of electrical power for the site, enough to power approximately 250 homes. The installation will be the largest in the Southeast by production capacity, and the sixth largest in the United States.

Kevin Marsh, the president of SCE&G, said the company is installing and maintaining more than 18,000 solar panels on the roof of the assembly building, an area of about 10 acres.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Boeing's decision to use solar power will be noted nationwide.

"The fact that Boeing would lead the way is going to make it easier for other businesses in South Carolina and in the country to follow," he said.

Jack Jones, vice president and general manager for Boeing South Carolina, said the new assembly plant should be operational in July. The first 787 built there is expected to take off in about a year.

The $750 million assembly plant represents the largest industrial investment in South Carolina history.