TC's Cone Drive Nabs Major Solar Project in California

by Lynn Geiger

Cone Drive Gearing Solutions in Traverse City has just signed an agreement with a California-based energy firm for the largest production order in the company’s 85-year-old history, creating 20 new jobs and a sunny future. Pun intended.

The company is supplying BrightSource Energy with solar tracking drives for its 392 megawatt Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California’s Mojave Desert. The system is the world’s largest concentrated solar power complex under construction and the first utility-scale solar thermal project built in California in nearly two decades.

Cone Drive was selected for a “large portion” of the project. “It was very competitive,” says Roberta Wagner, managing director of Cone Drive Solar. “We were the only U.S.-based supplier for this part of the project,” which included competing firms from Germany, China, England and elsewhere around the world.

BrightSource’s solar thermal system produces electricity the same way as traditional power plants – by creating high temperature steam to turn a turbine. But instead of using fossil fuels or nuclear power to generate steam, it uses thousands of computer-controlled mirrors called heliostats to focus the power of the sun on solar receivers atop power towers.

This process requires solar tracking drives with exceptional accuracy and Cone Drive is accomplishing this using its double enveloping worm gear technology. The solar division is a new company focus, explains Wagner, as it moves into more of an industry-aligned business structure rather then focused solely on products.

Cone Drive conducted a pilot program for the project at a test facility outside BrightSource’s engineering offices in Jerusalem, Israel (photo at top). Pictured (l-r) is engineering director Brian Tuck; Kurt Gamelin, general manager; and Wagner.

The 20 new positions at the unionized facility in Traverse City, which currently employs 163, will be for assembly line production and manufacturing, adds Wagner.

To get an idea of how many tracking drives they are supplying, a 100 megawatt system would require 60,000 heliostats and every heliostat needs a drive to track the sun. This project is for a 392-megawatt system. You do the math.

Cone Drive is also outsourcing some of the work to at least two local suppliers in addition to other suppliers in Michigan and the Midwest. Confidentiality agreements prevent Wagner from disclosing supplier specifics or the cost of the project.

The work is scheduled to last through the first quarter of 2013, and Wagner says the company is hopeful about additional projects with BrightSource that will allow them to retain the employees.

Might there be any opportunities for Cone Drive to put its solar chops to work locally?

Possibly someday, says Wagner. “This technology needs to be in an area of direct sunlight,” and the accuracy and benefits of the product aren’t applicable to northern Michigan’s sun volume.

But, she says, in terms of designing a durable product that is able to withstand the elements for 30 years, certainly.

“Not today, not next month, but it’s on the horizon,” Wagner adds.

To read more about the Ivanpah project, click here.