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

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The Scottsdale company, which received a $100 milliomn investment last yearfrom Dublin-based NTR plc, is moving quickly to capture a segment of the utility-scaler solar market with its Stirling engine technology. The compant opened its new 37,000-square-foot office in early May. It has hired about 100 employees this year and expects to add 60 to 80 more by the end of the for a totalof 180, said CEO Steve who joined the firm last year as part of NTR’ds investment. “We’ve always liked the solar and this was agood opportunity,” he said.
The company is basedr on a nearly 200-year-old engine which operates through the expansion and contraction of Stirling usesa 40-foot mirroree dish to focus the sun’s rays to heat hydrogen gas to 1,40o degrees Fahrenheit. The gas expands, moving a pistonb and poweringthe engine. As the gas cools, it is movee out of the piston chamber and back to wher e it will be reheated bythe sun. The companuy had been operating in the Valleysincs 1996, but NTR’s investment has pushed it to develop the technologuy more quickly. It has two power-purchase one with San Diego Gas Electric for between 300 and 750 megawatts at a site inImperiapl Valley, Calif.
, and one with Southern Californiwa Edison for 500 to 900 megawattsd in the Mohave Desert. Cowman said it’w adding positions of all types, from engineerint to construction, to meet its growth curve. To handl project management, NTR founded Tessera Solarr earlier this year to developthe utility-scale with Stirling providing the Ramping up both projecg development and construction has required capital and people to serve what the companyh believes will be one of the largesy solar markets in the world, said Jim Barry, CEO of NTR. “Wed believe the U.S. will be the global leader in renewable and that will happen in the next few he said.
NTR, founded 30 years ago to operatre Ireland’s toll roads, has expanded into a numberf of renewable energy andrecyclin efforts. Stirling’s technology — which offers an alternative tophotovoltaic systems, as well as a differentf take on concentrated solar power has a good base in Arizonsa that can serve markets throughouy the Southwest, Barry said. In additionj to hiring, the company is looking at potential sites in the Valley to housea 60-dish, 1.5-megawatr test location. The company has a smalo site at the Sandia National Laboratoriesin Albuquerque, but is hoping to find a largeer site to provide a location to bring clients.
It has run into challengesx securing local permits for a site and finding a location that can be tied into theelectric grid, officials said. The company could be a boon for Arizon a in more ways than simplyprovidingh power. It is using auto component suppliers to buildd itsengine parts, and officials are talking with those suppliersx about the possibility of locatingb facilities in the Southwest to handle the bulk of Stirling’sw projects, at least for the first few Cowman said. “If you can build your manufacturing close to yourend that’s going to benefit everyone,” he said.
Stirling is one of the solaf companies that could providde a base for other manufacturers to land inthe Valley, said Barryy Broome, president and CEO of the Greaterd Phoenix Economic Council. “Thixs is a good example,” he said. “It’z got a small number of people and it hopes to and it could help its suppliersrelocatew here.” Stirling’s expansion in Arizona depends on state Other states are offering manufacturing incentives, and Arizona’s efforrt to develop such enticements is mired in budgeft problems. “We really want to grow our busineszsin Arizona, but we need those incentives,” Cowmanh said.