East has met west in the solar energy equipment business in Michigan, with the western connection being a major electrical contractor in Grand Rapids that sees it as a replacement for some of the shrinking industrial work.

Feyen Zylstra L.L.C., founded in Grand Rapids in 1980, has joined forces with The Green Panel, a solar energy equipment distributor in Brighton that designs solar energy installations and supplies the equipment for companies, universities, state/municipal governments and nonprofit organizations.

Feyen Zylstra has already installed some major photovoltaic systems in central and eastern Michigan, working with Green Panel.

"We are aggressively moving forward in what we'll describe as a new economy," said Nate Koetje, chief operating officer of Feyen Zylstra.

In addition to entering into a partnership with Green Panel, some of Feyen Zylstra's 240 employees have been trained and certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners.

Because of all the news media focus on renewable energy, said Koetje, "there are a lot of people jumping into the business" regarding sales, design and installation. He added that some of those people "may not have the experience or credibility that our organization has."

One of the first projects Feyen Zylstra completed with Green Panel was the installation of a 40 kilowatt generating system on the roof of the new Michigan State University recycling center on campus in East Lansing. Adam Harris of The Green Panel said the total cost of the MSU photovoltaic installation will be about half a million dollars, with the equipment costing more than $300,000, plus more for engineering and construction.

"It will be there for the next 40 years," said Harris.

The two companies were also involved in another project at Henry Ford Community College, a much smaller capacity system incorporating solar panels provided by Green Panel and a wind turbine provided by another company, according to Koetje.

Two other projects awarded to Feyen Zylstra/Green Panel, now in the planning stage, are both 60 kilowatt systems, one at a corporation in Palatine, Ill., and the other for the city of Sycamore, outside Cincinnati.

Harris said Feyen Zylstra has an "exclusive" business relationship with Green Panel as its preferred installer. He agreed with Koetje that some firms trying to get into the design and installation of solar arrays lack experience. But because Feyen Zylstra staff members are going through the NABCEP certification — which includes 40 hours of classroom work plus on-the-job experience — they can handle the work.

As an example of what can go wrong, Harris described a project where the design would have meant the photovoltaic surface would be covered by snow in the winter. If the panels are at an angle that prevents snow accumulation, they actually work well on sunny winter days, he said.

"In the winter here, we get some great (sunny) days. We have a reflection factor here in Michigan from the snow"— well known to any skier who has suffered from snow blindness.

"Panels really react well with the snow on a sunny day," said Harris, adding that opinions to the contrary are a misconception.

One of the major electrical contractors for industrial customers in West Michigan, Feyen Zylstra had been enjoying consistent growth over the years, said Koetje, but that started to wane two years ago as fewer new factories were built or existing ones upgraded.

While Koetje stressed that Feyen Zylstra is not in "dire straits," he did state that it is "a smaller company today. We may be 10 percent smaller."

Its role as installer for Green Panel sales will help keep Feyen Zylstra employees working during the slowdown in the economy. At one point the company had about 260 workers; today it has 240.

"A good portion of our business was built on the West Michigan manufacturing base," said Koetje. "Part of what's pushing us into renewable energy is how do we take those industrial electricians, retrain them and apply their skill sets to renewables."

Some of the new momentum driving solar energy installation is from the renewable portfolio standard enacted by the state of Michigan last October, which mandates that the public utilities must obtain at least 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by the year 2015. Commercial wind farms are expected to provide some of that, but solar has some advantages, according to Harris and Koetje. Both major Michigan utilities are reportedly exploring the possibility of buying excess photovoltaic electricity from companies and homeowners that invest in their own systems and have them connected to the grid.

Koetje said there are misconceptions about photovoltaic energy in Michigan. He said it can produce electricity year round, and it doesn't need full sunlight to generate some electricity. He noted that lithium ion batteries for cars are being developed in Michigan.

"As that technology advances and solar energy is able to be stored for use later, we anticipate that it will continue to grow," said Koetje.

Harris said that solar energy has been in use in Michigan for a long time but people don't always notice it like they do wind turbines.

"It's gaining momentum," said Harris, adding that solar energy panels do not require any maintenance. Panels are warranted for 25 years and actually have an anticipated life span of about 40, he said. Wind turbines, on the other hand, require constant maintenance, he said, and usually have to be mounted 75 feet or higher — "unless you are around the lakeshore area."

Harris said Spain just took the lead from Germany as the nation generating the most energy from the sun. Germany, he said, gets 70 percent of the sunlight that Michigan gets, on average — “and it works there."

Harris noted that many of the photovoltaic panels produced in the U.S. go overseas. Orders have dropped, however, during the worldwide scarcity of credit, which prompted United Solar Ovonic in Greenville to temporarily halt some of its production for a month.

Harris said that once the world economy recovers enough to allow a functional credit market, production of photovoltaic equipment will increase again.

"We can't make this stuff fast enough," said Harris.

Harris said that right now, electricity for the U.S. consumer is at a “bargain price," but he believes it will increase to a range of 40 to 75 cents a kilowatt hour in five to 10 years.

Harris indicated most of Green Panel's business is commercial, but it is "reaching out to residential" customers. One way it is marketing to homeowners is by offering discounts to employees of companies that are Green Panel customers.

Koetje said when someone is trying to choose between solar and wind generation of electricity, "it probably is most important to simply come up with an application that fits the location. Solar doesn't work in every physical location nor does wind. But between the two of them, there are solutions out there for everybody."