Light Doctor has successfully found their niche within the energy efficiency industry and has built their business strictly around commercial lighting. For over 30 years, the Mountlake Terrace firm has proved to be one of the leading Clean Tech companies in Snohomish County. Light Doctor, originally started in 1980 as Pacific Coast Industrial Lighting (now, it's sister company) and offers four distinct lighting services.

Pacific Coast Industrial Lighting is a lighting distributor and through this company, Light Doctor is able to purchase lighting directly from manufacturers and can provide clients with lighting products. As part of this service, they can also provide inventory management services to insure that necessary lighting is on hand and available.

The "Light Doctors", as they refer to themselves, operate out of their own fleet trucks and ladder vans and provide lighting service for hundreds of clients in the Northwest. They maintain interior and exterior lighting for any commercial facility and cater frequently to multi-location clients for whom they perform monthly or quarterly service for. They're also able to repair signage.

On the greener end of their business, Light Doctor has teams of electricians who perform lighting retrofits on all types of facilities for companies, military, local and federal governments, as well as schools. During a retrofit, they will install new, state of the art lighting and fixtures which puts out more light while using less than half the power. While this efficiency makes good sense environmentally, these projects also qualify for utility company rebates that can be as much as 100-percent of the project costs. Energy savings can exceed 50-percent and with the rebates available, the ROI can reach from 40 percent to well over 100 percent depending on the project. Federal tax credits can also further enhance the attractiveness of lighting retrofits.Light Doctor is also a licensed recycler and can appropriately recycle spent lighting products.

The company currently employs 50 people and plans to hire more over the next year. With a powerful jump on the year, the company forecasts an 80 percent growth in 2010.

Edmonds Community College Offers Free Energy Training For Students

Edmonds Community College announced that they received a grant in excess of a half million dollars that will be used to offer grant-assisted education to unemployed students. The Department of Labor's Sound Energy Efficiency Development (SEED) program granted the money to help with tuition, books and fees for students to earn short certificates in Energy Management. The program will not only financially assist the students but will additionally help them with their job search and provide opportunities for students to participate in events where the can meet Clean Tech employers.

"This program is for anyone who is looking for work, but may be having difficulty finding a job, and would benefit from some current training in an in-demand field. It's ideal for people who have prior experience in construction, building technology, facilities maintenance, or a related field or, for the energy accounting track, experience with spreadsheets, data management, and budgets. Women, veterans, dislocated workers, and people with disabilities are especially encouraged to enroll," said instructor Alison Pugh.

The program starts this month and will offer short certificates for positions such as Residential Energy Auditor, Energy Efficiency Technician, and Energy Accounting Specialist. A Commercial Lighting Auditor program also starts this winter. The certificates can be completed in two quarters (six months or less).

The goal of the grant is to get workers into jobs in these fields. The certificates also count toward a two-year Energy Management degree, which can then transfer to a bachelor's degree at Central Washington University-Lynnwood on the Edmonds Community College campus. Most classes are offered evenings or online.

Edmonds Community College started the Energy Management degree program in 2009, to train workers for new job opportunities resulting from an increased interest in sustainability and reducing energy bills by utilities, private companies, government organizations, and homeowners.

Students in the program learn about the generation and distribution of energy in the Northwest, what it is used for, and how to monitor energy use. They train to manage and account for energy use as well as to lead projects in energy efficiency, analyze data, and create reports. Combining energy efficiency, business and project management skills, the Energy Management program prepares students to make a difference in the green economy.

Employers hiring workers trained in energy management and conservation include utilities, large corporations, and businesses that are interested in managing energy use in facilities and processes. Other companies include those that install energy-saving equipment including lighting and HVAC contractors, green builders, weatherization manufacturing and sales businesses, and solar power system services.

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SUBMIT YOUR INNOVATIVE STORY

If you are a new, innovative company with a cutting edge, newsworthy story or an existing company with an innovative and upcoming idea please send it to Ryan Crowther at rcrowther@snoedc.org.

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Thank you to all Snohomish County EDC Investors. For a complete list or for information on becoming an investor, please visit the EDC website.

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Innovations is Proudly Sponsored By:

Snohomish PUD customers are engaging in grassroots energy savings. This summer, the first set of customer-driven Community Power! projects will mobilize local residents and businesses to take on a broad range of energy efficiency measures, including efficient lighting, energy audits and conservation kits.

The program will help volunteer groups deliver free energy efficiency measures for single-family homes, multi-family homes and small businesses in communities throughout Snohomish County through late 2011. It's funded in part through nearly $2.2 million in stimulus funding under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, and is supported through a partnership of the PUD, Snohomish County, and the City of Everett.

Snohomish County PUD is seeking additional applications for local projects under the Community Power! program. For more information, including applications, call or email Suzy Oversvee at 425-783-8291 or seoversvee@snopud.com. Customers can also visit www.snopud.com/communitypower for program details and application materials.

Marysville's Silicon Energy Proves Continued Growth in New Facility

Walking on a tour of Silicon Energy's new facility in Marysville would prompt anyone to note the pace of progress taking place. Silicon Energy outgrew their facility in Arlington which led them on a search yielding a 26,000 sq. ft. space in Marysville. The new facility boasts room for growth and was previously occupied by Ryerson Microjet. Since then, the facility has received several tenant improvements which made it ready for Silicon Energy's April move. Gary Shaver, President of Silicon Energy, has several additional plans for the space including incorporating its own solar modules into the exterior architecture of the building. In an effort to display their product while increasing the building's efficiency, they will be hanging modules to provide a cover over the walkway as well as shade over the windows. "Not only will the modules generate power for our facility but the shade provided will create less work for our HVAC system. It's a win, win," said Shaver.

Inside their manufacturing space, they've added machinery. "We're ramping up here," exclaimed Shaver. The company has recently purchased an additional laminator that will significantly increase our production capacity and we are looking at adding additional machinery. Sales in Washington are looking good but the Washington market is relatively small. As a result, we have begun to expand outside of Washington." he continued. "We're a solar company, we have to be smart and we have to move fast."

The company will break ground on a duplicate facility in Mountain Iron, Minnesota on September 8. With the Marysville facility "on track", they plan to continue their regional approach with a facility in Minnesota. "This is a positive thing for Washington, too. This shows that we are growing and this move will only benefit our company and Washington," says Shaver. Shaver touted the Minnesota incentives as one of the primary reasons for choosing the Mountain Iron community. While the Minnesota incentives differ from Washington's, he was highly complimentary of Washington's incentives as well. "Both incentive programs support locally made products, which is good for our business and for the local economies."

Silicon Energy has placed a high emphasis on local markets for sales and local suppliers. Over half of the glass that they buy comes from local manufacturers and many other supplies are purchased locally. Silicon Energy continues to offer OutBack Technologies' (formerly OutBack Power Systems) battery-based grid tie inverter, but recently it began purchasing an out-of-state inverter to expand its product offerings. "Unfortunately, there was no manufacturer in Washington building the inverter we needed, so we developed an inverter solution that allows people in Washington to take full advantage of the Washington solar incentive."

Silicon Energy continues to grow, focusing on durability, aesthetics, and safety, while the majority of the market is focused on low-end, look a like products. "The National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently completed testing on our product, reporting that our product outperformed the top companies in the world for durability. This is very exciting for us", exclaimed Shaver. Shaver proceeded to stand on a solar module and even jump on it to show its strength and durability. "Silicon Energy is developing a name for durability." he said. In discussing the low end commodity module market (primarily coming out of China) with him, it was clear that Silicon Energy has no interest in competing in the low end, commodity module market, unless Silicon Energy can develop a differentiated product with a competitive advantage. "Just creating another look-a-like module in Washington does not seem sustainable to us given the relatively small size of the Washington market and the inability to compete outside of the state in the low end market. Large, well established, low-end manufacturers are pumping out cheap modules that dominate the market at this time," he continued. "Bigger companies are big ships that can't steer quickly. We plan on staying small and nimble. This allows us to move quickly with changes in the market and technology.. We are a good sized company for regional manufacturing. And, we've got a great story to tell here."


Silicon Energy's solar modules installed on a parking garage at the Shoreline City Hall

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More Businesses and Consumers Tapping Power of the Sun

There's something new on the rooftops around Snohomish County. It's clean, locally-generated energy from dozens of solar panel installations at local businesses, public agencies and area homes. Snohomish County Public Utility District reports that its Solar Express program, launched last year, has helped double the amount of power its customers are generating from small green energy projects. More than 50 solar projects were installed last year, with another 60 systems expected in 2010.

The new solar project at Charles Hall Orthodontics in Stanwood is helping reduce the energy bill for the business and reinforces its environmental ethic.

"We've been pleasantly surprised how economically feasible solar energy is," said Ann Marie Hall. "And environmentally, this is an investment that benefits everyone, not just us."

Other local organizations with solar installations include Whole Earth Montessori and the Snohomish County Administration Building. The PUD offers cash incentives for qualifying solar power systems. Additional federal tax credits and state production incentives are available. More at www.snopud.com.