Encore Ceramics

In 2005, BEF provided Encore Ceramics a loan to cover the costs of equipment and installation for a 29-kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) system. At the time of installation, this system was the sixth-largest in the Pacific Northwest, and served as a great start toward the company's goal of energy self-sufficiency. Currently, the system serves approximately four percent of the company's electricity needs. Encore Ceramics hopes to install a larger PV system on their newest building, which was specifically designed to support a system of up to 140-kilowatts. Energy monitoring of their PV system and system performance data were made available to the community for students to analyze the system’s performance for educational purposes at the time of the project.