Kickstart: Time to shine for solar energy

Solar power isn't just for hippies or loners who want to "live off the grid" anymore.

If you haven't noticed, major manufacturers have been adding solar power to their operations lately. Lego A/S says its new Virginia injection molding plant will solely rely on solar power. Sealed Air Corp. is investing $9 million to convert a California Bubble Wrap plant to solar. Thermoformer C+K Plastics Inc. is adding solar in North Carolina.

And it's not just processors either. On Sept. 2, Toray Resin Co. said it is working with Duke Energy to use solar power for its compounding plant in Indiana.

Add to that the launch of an electric-power cracking plant in Germany in a pilot project backed by BASF, Sabic and Linde. While the partners have not said what will be used to power that electric cracking plant, they did note it will give them options of a more sustainable energy source than natural gas.

Obviously a lot of those decisions are good PR for participating companies who can then boast of their reduced carbon footprint, but there are other incentives. European leaders are working to reduce their reliance on natural gas from Russia, due to the war in Ukraine and the potential Russia could further extend a shutdown of a key pipeline to Europe.

In the U.S., meanwhile, the recently approved Inflation Reduction Act provides tax incentives for renewable energy investments, a move that prompted solar panel maker First Solar to announce a $1.2 billion investment in additional capacity.

Mike Lewis, the retired CEO of thermoset and thermoplastics processor Akron Porcelain & Plastics Co., and his wife, Sheila Lewis, the former head nurse of Summa Health's Akron, Ohio, orthopedics unit, donated $1 million to establish the first endowed directorship in critical care for the Akron health system.

The contribution will be called the Mike and Sheila Lewis Critical Care Directorship, Summa Health announced in an Aug. 30 news release.

The position will focus on pulmonary medicine and support research, education and other issues related to the critical care department. Its first recipient is Michael Chandler, the division chief and medical director of Critical Care at Summa Health.

Akron Porcelain & Plastics is a 130-year-old manufacturer that began business as a clay pipe maker, added electrical insulators early in the 20th century, then began plastics operations in the 1950s.

Automakers are increasingly investing in 3D technology — not just printers for prototype parts, but using 3D scanners to check part quality, resurrect parts from old cars and even map entire manufacturing floors to improve production flow.

John Irwin from our sister paper Automotive News spoke to industry executives who see both 3D scanning and 3D printing as the next step in creating a "real-time digital factory."

"We believe that both 3D printing and 3D scanning will evolve beyond our imagination," said Stephen Brennan, Toyota Motor North America group vice president of vehicle production engineering. "These tools will become embedded into our core processes."

BMW says its scans of assembly plant floors will be used to determine the best way to retool for new models, long before production even begins.