'Green' light for new Jobs

The orders keep coming in, so the company has been hiring to ramp up production at Piedmont Warehouse, said President and Chief Operating Officer George Peterson. The company employs 25 people and plans to add at least a dozen more workers in the next couple weeks.

Because the market’s developing more on the commercial side, orders are for business and industry applications, he said.

“They see what’s happening in energy, and energy costs are rising in the U.S. and they’re going to continue to rise even more than they are already,” Peterson said. “So, they’re preparing.”

Because the solar building products manufacturer has been swamped, the construction of its building in Cane Creek Centre has been delayed, but will get back on track within the next 30 days.

“We’ve been focused on getting product out the door,” Peterson said.

Peterson said the company will soon need the production capacity of the 27,000-square-foot building as orders are coming faster than anticipated.

“We need to get it up and running as quickly as we can there,” Peterson said.

Yet, because the company’s product and solar systems will power its building, the construction is more complicated than in typical industry.

First, U.S. Green Energy will build the solar modules for the roof inside the Trade Street warehouse. The new building will also harvest the heat from the photovoltaic modules to run through fluid to heat the production area with radiant heat in the floor, Peterson explained. He hopes to have the building powered in January with operations starting there as soon as possible afterward.

Peterson wanted residents to know the company is seeing success, unlike the failures of other U.S. solar manufacturers within the past couple months. New York solar cell factory SpectraWatt filed for bankruptcy in August. Solar panel manufacturer Solyndra in California filed for bankruptcy this month, even though it had received $535 million in federal loan guarantees, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Our industry is getting kind of a black eye. I’ve gotten a lot of emails and phone calls,” he said. “ … Everything’s OK for us.”

U.S. Green Energy is different in that it’s a smaller company growing with the market and from its own innovation, as the company continues to come up with new original products. The company is also taking time to ensure it builds its distribution channel and to make sure the products can be sold.

“We’re doing it the old-fashioned American way,” Peterson said.

Linda Fowlkes of Dry Fork, who started working at U.S. Green Energy about six weeks ago, thinks the solar industry can be a good one for Danville.

“I think it’d be great. I’d love to have them in my house,” Fowlkes said. “That would save on my electricity bill.”

Diane Wood, Peterson’s assistant, has been working with U.S. Green Energy for more than two years and followed the company to Danville. She also believes the demand for solar building products will grow and can make a difference in the world.

Additionally, she believes the company is a good opportunity for those needing jobs.

“I was one of those that had got laid off and was looking for a job, and this company really was the backbone for me and my family,” Wood said.