Platt Electric Supply (Beaverton, Ore): Jeff Auter has been appointed V.P. of the company’s Western Washington Region. He has been with Platt for more than 17 years and will be responsible for overseeing Platt’s current 20 branches in the Western Washington region. Auter is a graduate of Washington State University.
Archive for September, 2010
Lighting Science Group to provide LED lamps for Home Depot
Lighting Science Group, Satellite Beach, Fla., will manufacture a broad line of LED lamps for Home Depot, Atlanta. The company will provide A19, PAR38, PAR30, PAR20, MR16, and G25 LED lamps that will be marketed by Home Depot under the Ecosmart label.
To ensure performance and reliability, the Ecosmart LED line was tested under the rigorous LM-79 process by an independent laboratory approved by the U.S. Department of Energy’s CALiPER program. The lamps are said to have an estimated payback period of one to two years, and range in retail price from $18.97 for an A19 and MR16 to $44.97 for a PAR38. All of the bulbs are available on Home Depot’s web site and in stores nationwide.
SoloPower gets UL listing for thin-film PV panels
SoloPower, Inc., San Jose, Calif., a manufacturer of flexible, thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, announced that its modules have passed the UL test. The company’s products are the first high-power flexible CIGS (copper indium gallium (di)selenide) PV modules certified under UL 1703, the safety standard for all PV module manufacturing.
SoloPower, which focuses on rooftop PV applications, will initially introduce the modules to the European and North American markets. The company is in the process of adding a second production line to increase its manufacturing capacity.
WESCO execs to ring opening bell at N.Y. Stock Exchange on Sept. 29
Execs from WESCO Distribution Inc., Pittsburgh, will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 29. The Opening Bell ceremony will celebrate WESCO Chairman Roy Haley’s 15 years of service as CEO and mark the one-year anniversary of WESCO’s management succession process implemented last year. To commemorate this occasion, John Engel, president and CEO, joined by members of the leadership team, will ring the NYSE opening bell.
Former Graybar exec DeSousa joins Crescent Electric Supply
Crescent Electric Supply Company (East Dubuque, Ill.): Dennis DeSousa, formerly senior V.P. of U.S. business for Graybar Electric Co., St. Louis, has joined Crescent Electric Supply as senior V.P. of business development. In his new role, DeSousa will focus on growing Crescent’s market share through targeted acquisitions and organic growth strategies.
Eaton to acquire CopperLogic
Eaton Corp. (ETN), Cleveland has agreed to acquire CopperLogic, Inc., a manufacturer of electrical and electromechanical systems. Terms of the deal, which are subject to customary closing conditions, were not disclosed.
According to information on its website, CopperLogic is the exclusive North American representative of Moeller industrial control products and other world class electrical components that power industry. CopperLogic, which has a U.S. office in Houston and a Canadian office in Mississauga, Ontario, also manufactures electrical and electromechanical systems that are designed with, and controlled by the components we sell. CopperLogic was founded in 2004 from Moeller’s original U.S. and Canadian sales organizations. Eaton bought Germany’s Moeller Group for $2.2 billion in 2008.
In a press statement, said Jerry Whitaker, president—Americas Region, Electrical Sector, said the acquisition of CopperLogic will also bring a portfolio of IEC, CSA and UL assemblies to Eaton. Details
Integrated Electrical Services nails big bid for NIST lab expansion in Colorado
Integrated Electrical Services (IES), Houston, (IESC), has been awarded a contract for the installation of electrical systems at the Precision Measurement Laboratory (PML) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colo. (NIST). IES is responsible for installing the primary and emergency power systems for an installation that covers 68 laboratory and clean room facilities, encompassing more than 400,000 square feet.
Once completed, the PML will be one of the most technologically advanced buildings in the world and will consist of a Level 4 High Performance Lab, Level 5 Instrument Lab and Level 6 Precision Lab. The new facility will provide for the current needs of quantum science research in computing and communications, nanotechnology, improved atomic clock research, high speed electronic measurements, and micro-fabrication of research devices.
DOE announces winners of lighting competition
The U.S. Department of Energy, the American Lighting Association (ALA), and the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE), announced the winners of the eighth-annual Lighting for Tomorrow competition at the 2010 ALA Annual Conference last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some familiar companies were amongst the winners, including Cree, Kichler Lighting Philips, Legrand, Leviton and Lutron.
The Lighting for Tomorrow competition aims to increase market acceptance and awareness of energy-efficient lighting by recognizing the best-designed energy-efficient lighting products available to the residential market. Design competitions are a key part of DOE’s national strategy to accelerate solid-state lighting (SSL) technology advances from the laboratory to the marketplace.
Sharp acquires Recurrent Energy in bid to build bigger package of PV services
A report at Solarbuzz.com says Sharp Corp.’s acquisiton of Recurrent Energy for $305 million is a bid to be a total solution provider in the PV field, from developing and producing solar cells and modules to building PV generation plants.
August durable goods spike
A report from IHS Global Insight Chief U.S. Economist Nigel Gault says that although headline durable goods orders were down 1.3 percent in August, that drop mostly reflected a plunge in volatile aircraft orders, which had surged higher in July.
Said Gault, “Under the surface, the news was good, pointing to a continuing revival in capital equipment demand. The bellwether indicator of capital equipment demand – orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft – rose 4.1 percent, wiping out most of a 5.3-percent decline in July (which itself was revised from a more severe 7.2-percent drop).
“Beginning-of-quarter declines in orders have become the norm. The rebound in August provides reassurance that capital equipment demand continues to revive. There’s little need for businesses to increase capacity, but they do need to address replacement needs that were neglected during the recession, and to boost productivity.
“Capital equipment spending was a major support for the economy in the first half of 2010, growing at a more than 20 perent% annual rate in both quarters. It won’t rise so strongly in the third quarter – we expect a rise of around 8.5 percent –but it remains one of the stronger sectors of the economy, and one of the bulwarks against a double dip.”
Wall Street was enthused about the increase, and stocks jumped 1654 points (1.5%) on Friday in early trading.