A New York solar panel maker is considering Colorado Springs for what its chief executive claims could become the country’s largest solar cell manufacturing plant once completed.
The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved $6.25 million in Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits on Thursday morning for Project Phoenix, the code name assigned to the company. The tax credits are conditional on the company creating 378 net new jobs at an average annual wage of $105,509, which is 167% of the average annual wage in El Paso County.
The positions include engineers, production operators and corporate executives. The company, which lacks a presence in the state, has 170 employees.
“We do want to set this factory up in Colorado Springs,” Hari Achuthan told commissioners on a Zoom call. “As we execute, we would probably be the largest (solar) cell factory in the U.S.”
Achuthan is chairman and CEO of Convalt Energy, a solar cell and panel maker based in Waterton, N.Y. When SunPower closed its manufacturing plant in Hillsboro, Ore., in 2021, Convalt acquired it, according to the company’s website. Before that, the company provided solar power capacity in developing countries like Myanmar, Vietnam and Sierra Leone.
Manufacturers in the clean energy space are eligible for tax credits under the Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit or the Advanced Energy Project Investment Tax Credit. Convalt is working on opening a solar cell and panel plant in Sydney, N.Y., next year and another facility in Waterton, N.Y. in 2026.
Colorado Springs is competing with a location in New York for the new facility, but it wasn’t disclosed if it would replace one of the two plants on the drawing board or if it would represent a third and separate location.
Solar or photovoltaic cells convert light into electricity and are assembled into solar panels or modules, arrays of which can be placed on buildings or the ground. The U.S. once dominated the solar panel industry but has lost ground to China, which now accounts for about 90% of solar panel manufacturing.
The commission also awarded $3.8 million to Project Omega, a financial service firm based in Colorado that is looking to expand in either Boulder County, Illinois, Michigan or North Carolina. The incentive award is tied to the company creating 232 net new jobs at an average annual wage of $213,147, which is 238% of the average in Boulder County.
The company currently has 48 employees, including 33 in Colorado. Adding another 232 would represent a considerable leap.
“I’ve added a guardrail that the company would have to provide proof that they’ve raised the capital needed to execute the project prior to contracting for this incentive,” Michelle Hadwiger, deputy director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, told commissioners.
In its third award, the commission agreed to provide $1.7 million in tax credit incentives to Project Legacy, a private insurance brokerage and risk management firm looking to expand into the western U.S. The company is looking at opening a regional office in Arapahoe County or in Kansas City, Mo.
Project Legacy is expected to create 124 net new jobs paying an average annual wage of $158,081, which is 191% of the average annual wage in Arapahoe County. Of the company’s 1,100 employees, 57 are currently working in Colorado.
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