Solar Power
A Delano company is helping California firms meet tough new environmental standards—and finding a wealth of new opportunities in the process.
BY BECKY ALDRIDGE
Last year, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled the Green California initiative, an ambitious program designed to implement and foster sustainable building practices and energy efficiency efforts. One of the players helping the Golden State achieve its environmental goals is Solar Plastics Inc.
The rotational molding technology company, which has offices in Delano, Minn., and Davenport, Iowa, joined forces with Philadelphia-based chemical manufacturer Arkema Inc. to create the PetroSeal. This permeation-resistant material system is designed to meet the California Air Resources Board (CARB) fuel permeation requirement set to take effect in 2008. That year, the permeation (fuel vapor emissions that escape through the walls of fuel tanks) regulations go into effect for small equipment such as lawnmowers and motorized floor cleaners.
According to Rick Carlsen, Solar’s sales team leader, the company was responding to marketplace demands. “We recognized that our materials were not adequate to meet the regulations, and we were at risk to lose business to other plastics processes,” he notes. “Our customers also began asking what we were working on to help them meet the proposed regulations [by CARB and the EPA].”
As a first step, Solar Plastics began working with several resin suppliers to test potential solutions. After this initial success, Solar partnered with Arkema to develop a rotational molding solution that would meet the permeation guidelines. “We have one active project that uses this new material system, and we have passed the required testing to break into several other new markets,” Carlsen says.
Solar Plastics isn’t exactly new to this type of innovation. The 190-person company, which started up in 1964, was awarded a patent earlier this year for its Solar Vision sightline process. Because many rotomolded tanks are opaque, the only way to determine the fluid level in them is to mount a gauge or mechanical sightline on the tank’s exterior. In contrast, the Solar Vision sightline is seamlessly molded into the tank wall, which allows users to see the amount of liquid in an opaque tank without any external fittings. The company has since successfully introduced the product into the lawn and garden, truck manufacturing, and chemical-handling industries.
Carlsen, whose father purchased the business from his grandfather in the 1970s, says the company has changed over the years. “In the 1960s and early 1970s, the business focused on proprietary products such as agricultural stock tanks and children’s toys,” he notes. “We really didn’t start moving into the custom molding business until the early 1970s.”
He’s optimistic for the company’s future, and sees plenty of opportunities thanks to its foray into the green technology realm. “We are one of the very few molders worldwide that can say it has a working solution to address these issues,” he notes.