The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek,
and investors around the world recognize Toledo
as a hotspot for research, development, and
commercialization of advanced solar technologies. The
Regional Growth Partnership in Toledo estimates that
more than 5,000 jobs in solar energy have been created
in the Toledo area over the last five years. Stemming
from its history of glass making, Toledo has leveraged
academic successes at the University of Toledo, industry
leadership successes at First Solar, entrepreneurial
successes at Xunlight, and significant support from the
Ohio Third Frontier to become the home of a dynamic
cluster of people, companies and products focused on
solar photovoltaics - technology that directly converts
sunlight into electricity.Ohio's Third Frontier has invested more than $33 million into the photovoltaic cluster in Northwest Ohio. Through investments in the Photovoltaics Innovation Center - a Wright Center of Innovation, in one Ohio Research Scholar, and in direct grants to small companies, the Ohio Third Frontier has stimulated the growth of an industrial cluster that symbolizes how historic Ohio strengths can be converted into new, innovative, and successful opportunities for economic growth.
Ohio's photovoltaics expertise has surprised some
in the public and investment communities, but its
origins trace back to companies such as Owens-Corning, Owens - Illinois, Libbey Glass, Pilkington,
Glasstech, Tempglass, and Therma-Tru and to Ohio's
overall expertise in advanced materials, chemistry,
and material coating. As the glass industry began to
decline in the 1980s, two relatively small investments
by the State of Ohio's Thomas Edison Program to
the University of Toledo and two industrial partners, Solar Cells, Inc. and Glasstech, Inc., were made for the
purposes of investigating the potential of photovoltaic
manufacturing. These investments led to strong
partnerships between the University and industry in
their region. Today, Solar Cells, Inc. has become First
Solar and is now the world's largest manufacturer of
solar photovoltaic panels.
Technology never stands still. The University of Toledo and local companies, with the help of the Ohio Third
Frontier, are continuously making investments in
areas which will advance the photovoltaic industry.
Improvements in the efficiency of sunlight conversion
to electricity, creation of photovoltaic cells on flexible
materials, and more efficient manufacturing methods
are all being researched. World experts in these fields
have come to the University and Northwest Ohio.
With them have come new ideas and entrepreneurial
opportunities. An example of the potential for new
companies, employment and new wealth creation is
Xunlight, a company started by a University of Toledo faculty member. Xunlight is perfecting how to produce
thin film photovoltaic panels on flexible substrates and
then manufacture these new panels in a continuous
process. The company has received more than $40
million in private investment capital from some of the
most knowledgeable investors in the world. In addition to Xunlight, other photovoltaic companies are receiving
entreprenuerial assistance from the Ohio Third Frontierand
Edison-funded organizations in the region.
Xunlight Corporation - Toledo, Ohio
Advances in technology must be delivered to the
marketplace for Ohio to fully realize the potential
for job growth. The Ohio Third Frontier has made
investments in companies that are working to develop
new and more cost-effective ways to install the solar
photovoltaic panels. The Garland Company and
Xunlight 26 have both been funded to develop actual
technology to install the new photovoltaic panels on
commercial, residential, and industrial buildings.
The investments in photovoltaics by the Ohio Third
Frontier also fit strategically into other state policy
and programs. House Bill 221 calls for an alternative
energy portfolio standard for electricity production in
Ohio. Photovoltaics are one manner of achieving the
requirements. House Bill 554 established an Advanced
Energy Job Stimulus program, and photovoltaics is
a technology that can offer short-term job creation
potential in Ohio. Finally, as part of the federal stimulus
package, advanced energy and photovoltaics play a
prominent role in the future of our nation.
The Ohio Third Frontier, in coordination with other
important state and federal programmatic directives,
is helping to ensure that Ohio's economy is able to
capitalize on the emergence of new dynamic industrial
clusters, such as the solar photovoltaics cluster in
Northwest Ohio. Through the development of these
industrial clusters, Ohio will be able to leverage its
historical strengths into new opportunities for product
development which in turn leads to company, job, and
wealth creation.
Ohio Third Frontier:
Building Partnerships - Solar & Photovoltaic
Over the past five years the photovoltaic (PV) group at the
University of Toledo has been among the top three in the
nation, along with the University of Delaware and Georgia
Tech. Within the last two years significant progress has
occurred that places the University of Toledo and Northwest
Ohio in the leadership position for photovoltaic research,
development, and commercialization:
- The Photovoltaic Innovation Center, formed with
an $18.6 million grant from the Ohio Third Frontier,
supports the development of new advanced laboratory
space and facilities, providing a framework for industry
collaboration within Ohio.
- PVIC is a consortium of academic, for-profit and nonprofit
partners including The Ohio State University,
Bowling Green State University, Owens Corning,
Decker Homes, NewCyte, Inc., McMaster Energy
Systems, Battelle, Innovative Thin Films LLC, Xunlight,
MetaMateria Partners, LLC, Green Energy Ohio,
Pilkington North America, Advanced Distributed
Generation, LLC.
- The attraction of two world-recognized photovoltaic
scientists from the US Department of Energy's National
Renewable Energy Laboratory to the University of Toledo.
- The expansion of US Air Force funding to the University
of Toledo from approximately $1 million to $3 million
annually, as well as the award of a $1 million NASA grant
to establish a photovoltaic test facility at the University of
Toledo.
- The award of two US Department of Energy contracts to
the University of Toledo in the University Photovoltaic
Product & Process Development Program of the Solar
America Initiative, among only 11 awards nationwide, for
a total of $2.5 million over three years.
- The award of an $8 million Ohio Research Scholars
Program grant and a McMaster family donation of $2
million to support the attraction of four new photovoltaic
faculty members including two new endowed chairs.
- The development of educational programs from
installation training, Bachelors of Science & Engineering,
and doctorate programs in photovoltaics at Owens
Community College, the University of Toledo, and The
Ohio State University respectively.
- The receipt by Xunlight of $40 million in venture capital
funding from Emerald Technology Ventures, Trident
Capital, and Rabo Ventures over three separate rounds of
funding.
- The award from the Ohio Third Frontier of $1 million to
the Garland Company, with the University of Toledo as a
collaborator, and $996,000 to Xunlight 26, in support of
the development of rooftop solar systems.
- The award from the Ohio Third Frontier of $4.97 million to
Xunlight in support of new photovoltaic fabrication and
manufacturing technologies.
