Solar Nation faces barriers in Oregon

Portland-based Solar Nation Inc. designed and installed the largest solar energy rooftop system in the nation this week, but the fact that it was in New Jersey is telling.

Despite its Portland base, nearly all of the company's revenue has come from the Eastern Seaboard. New Jersey alone accounts for 60 percent of sales, including the 4.26-megawatt system unveiled this week for property management firm Avidan Management that spans a 17-acre rooftop in Edison, N.J. (Portland-based Gerding Edlen also had a hand in the project.)

That Solar Nation doesn't have more work in its own backyard is a sore spot for [CEO Paul] Hodge, an Oregon native who just bought a home in Bend.

“It certainly makes it challenging by not having the support to grow our business in the state,” Hodge said. “I’d much prefer to live in Oregon than New Jersey, that’s for sure.”

Read more at Sustainable Business Oregon.

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