SolarTexans.com

Turner turned on by solar energy

Mogul has invested millions in DT Solar, a New Jersey company that has its southwestern headquarters in Austin.

By Bob Keefe
WEST COAST BUREAU
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Ted Turner, one of the world’s best-known tycoons, said Tuesday that the biggest opportunity he has ever known is his newest one: the solar business.

“I really believe … this is the greatest business opportunity in the history of humanity,” Turner said in a characteristically salty speech to an industry conference in Long Beach. “The entire world is going to have to redo its energy regime, and solar’s going to be a very big part of it.”

Last year, Turner invested several million dollars in DT Solar, a New Jersey company that has its southwestern headquarters in Austin. He also created a holding company, Turner Renewable Energy, and said Tuesday that he’s looking to expand his holdings.

In addition to increasing his investments in solar, Turner said he plans to start lobbying lawmakers in Washington to do more to promote solar power and otherwise address global warming.

“I’m going to do everything I can to bring us closer to the solution to these problems,” Turner said, predicting that the use of fossil fuels would be the end of humankind.

“We know what needs to be done, and by damn it, we’d better do it.”

Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said he hopes Turner can help persuade Congress to pass an energy bill that has stalled. The bill would extend tax credits for solar investments, among other things.

Turner, 68, has long supported environmental causes. His newfound interest in the solar industry, however, is perhaps his most significant blending of environmentalism with capitalism.

Clearly, he’s driven in part by altruism. He said that in Atlanta alone, where he still has his business headquarters, incidents of asthma have doubled in the past 20 years, mainly because of fossil fuels.

He’s quick to blame politicians he says haven’t done more to address global warming and support solar energy. He slammed President Bush, saying, “Maybe we’ll have somebody a little smarter next time.”

But Turner makes it clear his solar interests are also driven by the almighty dollar.

According the Solar Energy Industries Association, the photovoltaic industry grew by nearly 80 percent last year, and the solar water heating business more than doubled.

At DT Solar, “we’re making money right now — big money,” he said in a brief interview. “And a lot of these (solar) companies are making big money.”