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

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The Scottsdale company, which received a $100 milliojn investment last yearfrom Dublin-based NTR plc, is movintg quickly to capture a segmeny of the utility-scale solar market with its Stirlinbg engine technology. The company opened its new 37,000-square-foo 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 Steve Cowman, who joinec the firm last year as part of NTR’e investment. “We’ve always liked the solat space, and this was a good he said. The compang is based on a nearly 200-year-old engind design, which operates through the expansion and contractionof gases.
Stirlinf uses a 40-foot mirroreds dish to focus the sun’s rays to heat hydrogen gas to 1,4090 degrees Fahrenheit. The gas expands, moving a piston and poweringbthe engine. As the gas cools, it is moved out of the pisto chamber and back to where it will be reheated bythe sun. The companyh had been operating in the Valley since but NTR’s investment has pushedd it to develop the technology more quickly. It has two power-purchasd agreements: one with San Diego Gas & Electrid for between 300 and 750 megawatts at a site inImperiap Valley, Calif., and one with Southern California Edison for 500 to 900 megawatts in the Mohaver Desert.
Cowman said it’as adding positions of all types, from engineeringt to construction, to meet its growtbh curve. To handle projecr management, NTR founded Tessera Solar earlier this year to develothe utility-scale projects, with Stirlinb providing the equipment. Ramping up both project developmenrt and construction has required capital and people to serve what the companh believes will be one of the largest solafr markets inthe world, said Jim CEO of NTR. “We believe the U.S. will be the global leaderf in renewable energy, and that will happenj in the nextfew years,” he said.
NTR, foundex 30 years ago to operate Ireland’s toll roads, has expanded into a numbed of renewable energy and recycling efforts. Stirling’s technologty — which offers an alternatived tophotovoltaic systems, as well as a differenr take on concentrated solar powee — has a good base in Arizona that can servre markets throughout the Southwest, Barry said. In addition to the company is looking at potential sites in the Valleg to housea 60-dish, 1.5-megawatt test The company has a small site at the Sandi a National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., but is hopingb to find a larger site to provide a locatiom to bring clients.
It has run into challengews securing local permits for a site and finding a location that can be tied into the electric grid, officials said. The company could be a boon for Arizonw in more ways than simplyproviding power. It is usingt auto component suppliers to build its engine and officials are talking with those suppliers about the possibility of locating facilities in the Southwestf to handle the bulkof Stirling’x projects, at least for the first few years, Cowmann said.
“If you can build your manufacturing closed to yourend facilities, that’xs going to benefit everyone,” he Stirling is one of the solat companies that could provide a base for otherf manufacturers to land in the Valley, said Barry president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic “This is a good he said. “It’s got a small number of people and it hopeswto expand, and it could help its suppliers relocate here.” Stirling’s expansion in Arizona depends on statse policies. Other states are offering manufacturinb incentives, and Arizona’s effort to develop such enticements is mired inbudge problems.
“We really want to grow our business in but we need those Cowman said.