Lights, Action - More Light, More Action -Ed Seliga, Solar Entrepreneur
New Jersey solar enthusiast, Ed Seliga, is walking around with a great, big smile on his face because, much to his amazement and delight and not a little bit of trepidation, he finds himself holding a tiger by the tail.
And in spite of what appears to be a state of frenzy induced by keeping up with all the business that's been heading their way, and even with Government rebates coming and going - it's a thrilling place to be.
It's hard to believe that in the early years - when he first joined fortunes with engineer, Lyle Rawlings in June of 2000, that tiger was sound asleep.
And, while he was one of the faithful, hopeful that solar would break out as a vibrant business one day...
he hedged his bets by running an environmental consulting business on the side to support his solar habit.
But that was then and this is now.
Since that time, NJ policies have evolved-and parallel movements in the economy, advances in technology, and dire predictions for the planet have combined to jerk the tiger awake.
So now it's up and roaring.
And in spite of the roller coaster known as regulation and support, the biggest challenge for their company--Advanced Solar Products (ASP), Inc.
, is handling all the jobs that come their way.
"We were part of that development," a breathless Mr.
Seliga said during a background discussion of his now booming solar business.
"Lyle chaired industry committees that helped promote that change.
So, first we helped to create the market.
Then we went out and helped build the projects to really establish the market.
Now, in certain sectors at least, we're leading the market.
If you converted all the projects we're completing now into one giant solar panel, it would cover about 15 acres, or the space that would be taken up by 60 homes on quarter acre lots," he said.
"The combined total of all these projects will eliminate nearly 100,000 lbs of CO2 emissions per day.
"People are already getting smarter about how they go about using and generating energy," Mr.
Seliga noted.
"The field is getting more crowded and more competitive.
So ASP is adapting.
They're looking forward to expanding and institutionalizing the market so it becomes more main stream.
When that happens we won't be so much the exception; we'll become much more the rule," he said.
"And we'll be consistent with the Green Building Council's philosophy that in another ten years, it won't be necessary to use the word 'green.
' What we're doing should just be regarded as standard 'building'.
" Mr.
Seliga was also in the right place at the right time.
Historically, solar has its roots in New Jersey.
The first commercial solar electric panels were developed in New Jersey at Bell Labs to enable phones to work in remote areas.
Solar continued its advance when solar power was developed for use on space ships, a substitute for heavier fuels.
As silicon-based solar technology moved into sustainable building it challenged the market for silicon as a primary ingredient in computer chips.
This dynamic has created some tension on the business side and it's been a wild ride for proponents of solar.
But as the economics improve, many are trying it out, especially schools, a sector which made a commitment to solar early on, and which continues to grow.
For example, ASP works with the Bayonne Board of Education, which in 2004 initiated the largest solar project to date in the Eastern United States totaling approx 2000 kW on nine schools.
Phase I of Toms River's project, when completed will install approximately 2350 kW on seven schools.
And Branchburg Township, which recently approved a bond referendum to fund 50 kW to be installed in the Township's Central Middle School.
ASP is working with the Somerville, NJ firm of SSP Architects on the latter project, a company which is nationally known for green sustainable school design.
And then, these schools will all promote education about renewable energy, Mr.
Seliga noted.
Education about sustainability is a priority with ASP, one they intend to continue to support, he said.
"As the price of solar has come down, the price of oil has gone up and our concern about environmental damage has increased," Mr.
Seliga added.
"If you draw a graph those lines have crossed.
Now it makes sense to provide clean energy.
" It is interesting to note that all this action is occurring although solar power still accounts for well under 1% of U.
S.
electricity generation according to an August 27 article in USA Today by Paul Davidson .
Mr.
Davidson notes that technological advances are expected to halve the price of solar-panel installations in as little as three years.
Citing input from Deutsche Bank (DB), Mr.
Davidson reports that by 2014 solar-system prices will be competitive with conventional electricity when energy savings are figured in.
And that, he says, is without government incentives.
...
He predicts that innovations - led by semiconductor firms and a new crop of "thin-film" solar makers - will wring more power from sunlight, use less silicon to make panels and make factories more efficient.
Mr.
Seliga was born in a Pittsburgh-area steel town in Western PA across from a steel mill, and a few miles from a plant that processed coal into coke.
Witnessing the results of unbridled industry-the steel industry was sited in the late '70s as the worst source of air pollution in the USA -- he remembers a bleak landscape where little could grow; where "enormous numbers of grasshoppers could be found in small areas because natures systems were out of balance.
"Mr.
Seliga once counted 27 of them on one little rock the size of his hand, and he remembers there were millions more.
"The creatures which would ordinarily eat the grasshoppers were gone," he explained.
The sight made a lasting impression on him.
The only day he ever skipped high school was to go to the first Earth Day on a local campus at Penn State University.
He followed up his environmental interests at the School of Engineering at Princeton University with a degree in civil engineering.
For many reasons the time for the use of solar energy appears to be now because it will reduce CO2 emissions, because it will reduce other toxic emissions produced by coal-fired energy generation which causes smog, acid rain and mercury buildup in our waters, because it is decentralized and less dependent upon our vulnerable grid.
And, in spite of inertia, and many countervailing forces extant in the world today, demand for solar is growing.
Mr.
Seliga and his partner recently ran an ad - their first in a stepped up visibility campaign - and before he'd even seen it, they had a new client, the owner of warehouses in Avenel and Swedesboro, NJ - their goal: to make 100% of all of the power they need.
ASP has worked on a number of industrial sites and production facilities, Mr.
Seliga said, but these will be their first functioning warehouses.
When they are through, they will create no green house gasses, they will impose no demand on the energy grid...
net.
In the course of a year the warehouses will be able to generate all the power they need from the systems on their roofs.
This means that at times they will be taking power but at other times they will actually replace it.
In other words, "they will buy some at night and they will buy some in the winter, but they will actually sell back extra on summer afternoons and quiet weekends.
In the course of a year it will equal out and they will effectively produce all the electricity they need, on site, in these two warehouses.
" Mr.
Seliga, who continues to be involved in developing innovative energy technologies, is one of the lucky ones who gets to do what he loves so that the line between work and 'play' is very blurred.
He notes that he and his partner are always discussing issues of energy production and energy conservation.
But what it all boils down to, he says, is "the first thing you want to do is reduce how much energy you're using, and then you want to use the cleanest possible energy for whatever energy you do use.
"Mr.
Seliga notes that signs are good:the same day the above mentioned USA article came out, the Wall Street Journal came out with a whole section on energy conservation.
"We're fortunate to live at a time when the environmental benefits and the economic benefits of renewable energy are congruent," he said.
"The things we do to benefit the environment will also save money.
This state of affairs matches the USGBC's advocacy of 'triple bottom line' - benefiting people and planet, as well as producing profit.
It's a scenario that works for all concerned.
" 1 [http://www.
usatoday.
com/tech/science/environment/2007-08-26-solar_N.
htm]
And in spite of what appears to be a state of frenzy induced by keeping up with all the business that's been heading their way, and even with Government rebates coming and going - it's a thrilling place to be.
It's hard to believe that in the early years - when he first joined fortunes with engineer, Lyle Rawlings in June of 2000, that tiger was sound asleep.
And, while he was one of the faithful, hopeful that solar would break out as a vibrant business one day...
he hedged his bets by running an environmental consulting business on the side to support his solar habit.
But that was then and this is now.
Since that time, NJ policies have evolved-and parallel movements in the economy, advances in technology, and dire predictions for the planet have combined to jerk the tiger awake.
So now it's up and roaring.
And in spite of the roller coaster known as regulation and support, the biggest challenge for their company--Advanced Solar Products (ASP), Inc.
, is handling all the jobs that come their way.
"We were part of that development," a breathless Mr.
Seliga said during a background discussion of his now booming solar business.
"Lyle chaired industry committees that helped promote that change.
So, first we helped to create the market.
Then we went out and helped build the projects to really establish the market.
Now, in certain sectors at least, we're leading the market.
If you converted all the projects we're completing now into one giant solar panel, it would cover about 15 acres, or the space that would be taken up by 60 homes on quarter acre lots," he said.
"The combined total of all these projects will eliminate nearly 100,000 lbs of CO2 emissions per day.
"People are already getting smarter about how they go about using and generating energy," Mr.
Seliga noted.
"The field is getting more crowded and more competitive.
So ASP is adapting.
They're looking forward to expanding and institutionalizing the market so it becomes more main stream.
When that happens we won't be so much the exception; we'll become much more the rule," he said.
"And we'll be consistent with the Green Building Council's philosophy that in another ten years, it won't be necessary to use the word 'green.
' What we're doing should just be regarded as standard 'building'.
" Mr.
Seliga was also in the right place at the right time.
Historically, solar has its roots in New Jersey.
The first commercial solar electric panels were developed in New Jersey at Bell Labs to enable phones to work in remote areas.
Solar continued its advance when solar power was developed for use on space ships, a substitute for heavier fuels.
As silicon-based solar technology moved into sustainable building it challenged the market for silicon as a primary ingredient in computer chips.
This dynamic has created some tension on the business side and it's been a wild ride for proponents of solar.
But as the economics improve, many are trying it out, especially schools, a sector which made a commitment to solar early on, and which continues to grow.
For example, ASP works with the Bayonne Board of Education, which in 2004 initiated the largest solar project to date in the Eastern United States totaling approx 2000 kW on nine schools.
Phase I of Toms River's project, when completed will install approximately 2350 kW on seven schools.
And Branchburg Township, which recently approved a bond referendum to fund 50 kW to be installed in the Township's Central Middle School.
ASP is working with the Somerville, NJ firm of SSP Architects on the latter project, a company which is nationally known for green sustainable school design.
And then, these schools will all promote education about renewable energy, Mr.
Seliga noted.
Education about sustainability is a priority with ASP, one they intend to continue to support, he said.
"As the price of solar has come down, the price of oil has gone up and our concern about environmental damage has increased," Mr.
Seliga added.
"If you draw a graph those lines have crossed.
Now it makes sense to provide clean energy.
" It is interesting to note that all this action is occurring although solar power still accounts for well under 1% of U.
S.
electricity generation according to an August 27 article in USA Today by Paul Davidson .
Mr.
Davidson notes that technological advances are expected to halve the price of solar-panel installations in as little as three years.
Citing input from Deutsche Bank (DB), Mr.
Davidson reports that by 2014 solar-system prices will be competitive with conventional electricity when energy savings are figured in.
And that, he says, is without government incentives.
...
He predicts that innovations - led by semiconductor firms and a new crop of "thin-film" solar makers - will wring more power from sunlight, use less silicon to make panels and make factories more efficient.
Mr.
Seliga was born in a Pittsburgh-area steel town in Western PA across from a steel mill, and a few miles from a plant that processed coal into coke.
Witnessing the results of unbridled industry-the steel industry was sited in the late '70s as the worst source of air pollution in the USA -- he remembers a bleak landscape where little could grow; where "enormous numbers of grasshoppers could be found in small areas because natures systems were out of balance.
"Mr.
Seliga once counted 27 of them on one little rock the size of his hand, and he remembers there were millions more.
"The creatures which would ordinarily eat the grasshoppers were gone," he explained.
The sight made a lasting impression on him.
The only day he ever skipped high school was to go to the first Earth Day on a local campus at Penn State University.
He followed up his environmental interests at the School of Engineering at Princeton University with a degree in civil engineering.
For many reasons the time for the use of solar energy appears to be now because it will reduce CO2 emissions, because it will reduce other toxic emissions produced by coal-fired energy generation which causes smog, acid rain and mercury buildup in our waters, because it is decentralized and less dependent upon our vulnerable grid.
And, in spite of inertia, and many countervailing forces extant in the world today, demand for solar is growing.
Mr.
Seliga and his partner recently ran an ad - their first in a stepped up visibility campaign - and before he'd even seen it, they had a new client, the owner of warehouses in Avenel and Swedesboro, NJ - their goal: to make 100% of all of the power they need.
ASP has worked on a number of industrial sites and production facilities, Mr.
Seliga said, but these will be their first functioning warehouses.
When they are through, they will create no green house gasses, they will impose no demand on the energy grid...
net.
In the course of a year the warehouses will be able to generate all the power they need from the systems on their roofs.
This means that at times they will be taking power but at other times they will actually replace it.
In other words, "they will buy some at night and they will buy some in the winter, but they will actually sell back extra on summer afternoons and quiet weekends.
In the course of a year it will equal out and they will effectively produce all the electricity they need, on site, in these two warehouses.
" Mr.
Seliga, who continues to be involved in developing innovative energy technologies, is one of the lucky ones who gets to do what he loves so that the line between work and 'play' is very blurred.
He notes that he and his partner are always discussing issues of energy production and energy conservation.
But what it all boils down to, he says, is "the first thing you want to do is reduce how much energy you're using, and then you want to use the cleanest possible energy for whatever energy you do use.
"Mr.
Seliga notes that signs are good:the same day the above mentioned USA article came out, the Wall Street Journal came out with a whole section on energy conservation.
"We're fortunate to live at a time when the environmental benefits and the economic benefits of renewable energy are congruent," he said.
"The things we do to benefit the environment will also save money.
This state of affairs matches the USGBC's advocacy of 'triple bottom line' - benefiting people and planet, as well as producing profit.
It's a scenario that works for all concerned.
" 1 [http://www.
usatoday.
com/tech/science/environment/2007-08-26-solar_N.
htm]
Source...