Off Grid Solar seeks incentives for Florida jobs

A startup solar panel manufacturer is seeking $360,000 in state and local job growth incentives to hire 150 workers for a plant in Fort Lauderdale.

Off Grid Solar would move its headquarters from DeLand and spend $11.8 million on facilities and equipment to lease space, according to its application for Qualified Target Industry funds with Broward County. On May 4, county commissioners approved $45,000 for the company, should it meet its job growth targets in 2011 through 2014. Fort Lauderdale commissioners approved incentives of the same amount in April. The company is seeking state approval for the rest.

James McKirdy, a former disaster recovery center manager for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is founder of Off Grid Solar. As its name implies, he has the company ready to produce solar photovoltaic panels that can fully power buildings without relying on the electrical grid.

“We don’t believe in the grid,” McKirdy said. “You can’t make a wire smart.”

Off Grid Solar also plans to manufacture solar street-lighting systems. He said his panels are 41 percent efficient in hot direct sunlight, and can even generate power during cloudy days and from high moonlit nights.

Read the full story in the South Florida Business Journal.