Published January
2001
Sun,
wind propel
Xantrex forward
By
Kathy Day
Herald Economy Writer
ARLINGTON — Ron Pitt
says in his business, it’s time for a party when a nuclear plant is decommissioned.
That’s because it
means interest increases in other sources of energy, and thus more business
for his company.
Pitt is Vice President
and General Manager of Xantrex Technology Inc., which makes devices to
convert solar energy into electricity.
The company, started
in 1984 as Trace Engineering, changed names in March after a series of
mergers and acquisitions. Its technology enables home and business owners
to hook up solar or wind power systems and make them work, Pitt said in
a recent interview.
Better yet, those
who are connected to a local utility and have Trace-brand devices may
be able to watch their electric meter “spin backward,” he said.
Xantrex’s devices
are used to power villages in Africa and Nepal, and hospitals and clinics
in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Pitt said. In places where energy
is expensive and in short supply and power outages are a daily occurrence,
nonfuel-based power makes a lot of sense, he added.
Many homes or businesses
with their own solar power systems can take advantage of “net metering,”
he said.
That means if they
are generating power and not using it all, they can sell it to the local
utility. If they’re using more than they produce, they pay the utility
for what they consume from the system.
“Most people don’t
know about it in this region because power has been so inexpensive and
the cost very steep for alternative sources,” Pitt said.
But now, with higher
electricity costs, that could change, he said, adding that solar energy
is most viable during long summer days when the systems can generate a
lot of power and store it for later use.
To install a complete
system to power a 2,000-square-foot house would run about $20,000, Pitt
said.
Several Xantrex employees
have installed the company’s equipment in their homes, and its founders
lived “off-grid” — not connected to local power lines. A Snohomish County
PUD spokeswoman said the utility has a handful of customers who take advantage
of net metering, including one employee.
Dealers who install
the equipment are trained to meet local standards and must get utility
district approval to hook up to the system.
Xantrex has about
300 employees in five buildings adjacent to the Arlington airport. It
also makes a backup power system that can be used during power failures
to run all or part of a home or business, and systems for people who live
and work beyond the reach of power lines.
Xantrex, which houses
its worldwide headquarters and distribution center for renewable energy
products in Arlington, “is pretty much it” in terms of its business niche,
Pitt said.
He acknowledged
it was a bit odd that the coastal Pacific Northwest, where there’s so
little sun, “has become a center for solar electricity. ... It’s become
a focal point, but it is a well-kept secret.”
By acquiring Heart
Interface of Kent and Vancouver, British Columbia-based Xantrex — which
gave its name to the 50-50 merger — the former Trace Engineering was able
to consolidate the competition, he added.
The company also
has divisions that make testing and measurement equipment, mobile power
equipment for trucks and RVs, and consumer items like cigarette lighter
converters used in cars that are sold in discount stores. In all, it has
more than 700 employees at five facilities and produces about 500,000
devices a year as a corporation.
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