AVA Solar will anchor new CSU research campus

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Fort Collins and Colorado State University are hitching their wagon to a familiar star: the sun.

The two entities exchanged parcels of land recently so that CSU can locate a research campus--with a renewable energy focus--at the southwest corner of Interstate 25 and Prospect Road.

The first tenant at the research campus, homegrown AVA Solar, could well achieve star status itself in the solar energy sector. Using technology developed at CSU, AVA will manufacture low-cost solar panels at the site, and demand for the product is expected to be huge.

Since AVA Solar formed in January of this year, plans for large-scale production have been moving along quickly. The company hopes to break ground on a manufacturing plant in the first quarter of 2008; by early 2009, the new factory should be up and running.

At present, AVA is involved in testing and optimizing its production system, according to strategic planning director Russ Kanjorski. The company now employs about 30 people, but that number should increase to about 500 when the plant goes online. The bulk of the jobs will be in production, geared to a wide range of skill levels.

"These will all be good, middle-class jobs," Kanjorski said.

One factor that helped AVA make giant strides this year was a $3 million matching grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, geared to helping the company scale up to commercial production.

Another important event was the land swap between Fort Collins and the CSU Research Foundation. The city gained a 267-acre parcel in the foothills, adjacent to the Reservoir Ridge Natural Area, while CSU landed the 143-acre site just east of the Colorado Welcome Center.

The AVA Solar plant and offices will occupy 25 acres at the research campus. Plans call for The Neenan Co. of Fort Collins to build the facility and lease it long-term to AVA Solar.

Kanjorski predicts that AVA will serve as a magnet for other related businesses and will also draw alternative energy brainpower to the area.

"It could become a Mecca for all the smartest people in the world" in solar technology, he said.

Home panels

People who are interested in purchasing AVA Solar panels for their homes will have to wait a bit. According to Kanjorski, the company will start out by supplying solar panels to utility companies and large-scale commercial projects, with the residential market to come later.

Some local residents have also been interested in investing in the company, but Kanjorski said AVA will remain a private company for the foreseeable future.

Nationally, the solar energy sector has been growing at 40 percent per year, Kanjorski noted. "It's a good time to be getting in," he said, adding that as the price of solar panels goes down, growth of the industry is sure to accelerate.

The technology used by AVA Solar was developed by CSU mechanical engineering professor W.S. Sampath and research associates Kurt Barth and Al Enzenroth.

"This is what higher education can do for residents of Colorado and for economic development," said CSU President Larry Penley. "We make significant contributions to the region's economic wealth."

Penley stated that more than 80 faculty members at CSU are involved in clean energy research.

Traffic concerns

At a neighborhood meeting Nov. 14, the public got a peek at development plans for the research campus. The primary concern voiced at the meeting was related to increased traffic along East Prospect Road once the AVA plant opens.

According to Ward Stanford, a city traffic engineer, shift changes at the AVA plant will be geared to avoid heavy traffic times on Prospect. Shift changes are planned for 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., while normal rush-hour periods are from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and 5 to 6:30 p.m., Stanford said.

Stanford said some signal re-timing may be required, but significant roadway improvements are not expected.

The overall development plan for the CSU research campus is expected to go to the Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Board on Dec. 6. The board will make a recommendation to the city council concerning the plan.