"Questions arise over FirstEnergy's solar commitment"

Al Compaan with a solar PV panel he helped create.Tom Henry of the Toledo Blade's "Questions arise over FirstEnergy's solar commitment" documents the nuclear utility's ongoing reluctance to meet its commitments under Ohio law to install solar power in the Buckeye State. Al Compaan (pictured at left), retired chair of the University of Toledo (UT) physics department, is working with Beyond Nuclear as an expert witness on solar photovoltaic (PV) power as a renewable energy alternative to FirstEnergy's proposed 20 year license extension at its problem-plagued Davis-Besse atomic reactor. Not only did Al have a hand in passage of Ohio's renewable energy mandate law, but his solar PV installations on his own home and the church he attends represent about 25% of the solar PV development in Ohio in the recent past! Al's presentation at the Davis-Besse People's Hearing in Toledo on December 18th, asserting that solar PV can indeed replace Davis-Besse's 908 Megawatts-electric, formed the basis for one of our contentions against the license extension. His CV shows his deep expertise in solar PV. Al's involvement has provided a huge boost to our environmental coalition's chances going into an NRC Atomic Safety (sic) and Licensing Board oral argument hearing on March 1st in Port Clinton, Ohio. The Toledo area, dubbed "Glass City" in a bygone era, is now a hotbed for solar PV research and manufacturing, including: UT's vibrant solar PV research institute that Al helped establish; Perrysburg-based First Solar, the world's single largest solar PV panel manufacturing plant; and Xunlight, with which Al works.