Rod MacGregor is a serial entrepreneur and company founder who has brought a number of companies to market before selling them and moving on to the next area. Now Rod has the global gypsum wallboard industry in his sights - or at least those factories which are currently wasting money on burning gas when there is a perfectly good energy source beating down on the factory - the sun. Rod MacGregor is serious about this - and you should be too!

New solar power solutions for the global New solar power solutions for the global gypsum wallboard industrygypsum wallboard industry

globalgypsum MAGAZINEGlobal Gypsum Magazine staff

Ad IndexSubscribeContents

Below: Rod MacGregor

So Rod, what has changed since you gave a presentation

at the Global Gypsum Conference in Rio de Janiero?

Rod MacGregor: “A lot of progress has been made

since the Rio conference in May. First and foremost,

we’ve changed our business model from a manufacturer

of solar-made gypsum wallboard to a supplier of solar

thermal equipment. To refl ect this transition, we’ve

changed our company name from CleanBoard to Glass-

Point Solar, Inc, and have been very busy building out

our customer pipeline in the drywall space. We have also

been very fortunate to have solar thermal veteran John

O’Donnell join GlassPoint as Vice President of Business

Development. John was the co-founder of Ausra, one

of the early leaders in the fi eld of solar thermal power

generation, and he brings valuable industry knowledge

and experience in launching innovative technolo-

gies to the team.

Global Gypsum Magazine: “Why did you de-

cide to change the name of your company from

CleanBoard to GlassPoint?”

Rod MacGregor: “Originally we planned to

use our solar thermal technology to manufac-

ture gypsum wallboard and market the product

under the CleanBoard brand. However, as word

spread of CleanBoard’s technology and minimal

carbon footprint, several drywall manufacturers

approached CleanBoard to learn more about the

use of solar industrial process heat (SIPH) in

their own facilities.

It was clear that CleanBoard could grow more quickly

by partnering with existing players from the outset

rather than building our own facility and manufacturing

solar-made wallboard entirely on our own resources. In

light of this strong industry demand, we switched gears

- rebranding the company as GlassPoint Solar and fo-

cusing our eff orts towards converting existing drywall

plants to solar power.

Given our growth trajectory, we can convert more

than one billion square feet of existing production ca-

pacity to solar power in the same time that it would have

taken us to organically build-up just a few hundred mil-

lion square feet of new production capacity.

In the end, our transition to GlassPoint means that

the industry is able to reduce its carbon emissions faster,

that our customers are able to integrate solar into their

manufacturing process while reducing production costs

and that more end consumers have the option to pur-

chase environmentally friendly building products with

low-embedded energy.”

Global Gypsum Magazine: “Where did the idea for

solar-made drywall come from?

Rod MacGregor: “During a recent tour of a drywall

plant in China, I noticed that their ovens were being

heated indirectly by burning coal to heat thermal oil and

then running the oil through a series of pipes inside the

oven. While this was very ineffi cient and emitted large

amounts of pollution, it was cheap.

On the fl ight back to California I was reading about

28 globalgypsum MAGAZINE November/December 2009

globalgypsum MAGAZINE

globalgypsum MAGAZINE November/December 2009 29

solar thermal power plants that

were being developed in Spain.

Th ese power plants use sunlight

to heat thermal oil to 4000C,

which is then used to make

steam to power a turbine that

generates electricity.

And then the light bulb

moment - combine the two sys-

tems: use the hot oil from a solar

array and pump it through an

indirectly-heated drywall oven

to manufacture drywall with the

sun’s abundant resources instead

of dirty fossil fuels. At fi rst we

hoped to purchase equipment

readily available on the market

but soon discovered this was not cost-eff ective. Process

heat derived from current solar thermal systems would

be about four or fi ve times more expensive than heat

produced by burning natural gas.

Solar ‘fuel’ is free - there is no charge for sunlight - so

we asked ourselves, why were these systems so expensive

to own and operate? Aft er a detailed analysis of existing

systems, our engineering team created a new low cost

solar collector design that could deliver industrial proc-

ess heat for less than the price of burning natural gas.

Th is technology became the core of the CleanBoard -

now GlassPoint - system. For the fi rst time, a solar BTU

was cheaper than a natural gas BTU.”

Global Gypsum Magazine: “How does GlassPoint’s

system integrate with the manufacturing line?”

Rod MacGregor: “Th e GlassPoint solar collector fi eld

produces thermal oil at around 400°C. Th is oil can be ap-

plied in a number of ways to power an existing drywall

oven. Typically a customer would install an oil-to-air

heat exchanger to produce hot air that is then passed

through existing gas burners and into the appropriate

oven zone. Th e gas burners are running continuously,

but they are throttled back with the bulk of the heat

coming from the solar array. If the supply of solar heat is

interrupted for any reason (e.g. a cloud passed by or the

sun sets), the gas burner’s control system increases the

fl ow of natural gas to maintain a constant process tem-

perature. In this way, the oven can seamlessly transition

from solar power to natural gas power and back again

without operator intervention.

Th ere are several variations to this design. For exam-

ple, the oil-to-air heat exchangers can be placed inside

the oven’s upper ductwork, or even as in the old-style

oven designs, inside the oven itself. Th e method selected

depends on the design of the existing oven and what

percentage of the oven’s energy is to be supplied from

solar instead of natural gas.

Th e GlassPoint system is a gas-solar hybrid, custom-

ised to meet individual customer specifi cations. Solar

energy is used during the day and gas is burned at night.

Systems like this can displace about 30% of the gas used

in the oven. Since a GlassPoint BTU costs less than a gas

BTU, wallboard producers will see a signifi cant reduc-

tion in plant operating costs.

If heat storage is added to the system, the GlassPoint

solar array can continue to provide process heat on

cloudy days and throughout the night. Th ese systems

can displace over 85% of the gas used by the drywall

oven.”

Global Gypsum Magazine: “How much additional

land is needed? What are other implications to con-

sider?”

Rod MacGregor: “Th e amount of heat

produced by an acre of land varies depending on its lo-

Above: Direct NormalIrradiation (DNI).

Left: Connectionbetween solar fi elds, any

heat storage tank and thedrywall factory.

globalgypsum MAGAZINE

cation. An acre of land in the Mojave Desert in California

will generate more heat than an acre of land in Glasgow

in the UK. However, a rough rule of thumb is that one-

acre of GlassPoint’s solar array will produce about 10,000

MMBtu per annum.”

Th e land used for the GlassPoint solar array needs

to be reasonably fl at with no more than a 3% grade, and

while it’s most effi cient to have the array adjacent to the

plant, it can be up to a mile or so away.”

Global Gypsum Magazine: “In which geographical

areas is solar industrial process heat (SIPH) most cost-

eff ective? Can a system like this work in cloudier areas

like the UK?”

Rod MacGregor: “Solar thermal systems like Glass-

Point’s rely on direct sunshine and are thus unable to

collect energy when clouds conceal the sun. Th erefore,

the most practical locations are those with bright sun-

light for much of the year (see map, above).

Some of these areas include the

Southwestern United States, Southern

Europe, North Africa, Northern India,

Australia and much of the Middle East.

Th e map (on the following page) shows

the locations of the drywall plants in the

Southwestern US that have enough solar

resources to produce heat for less than

the cost of natural gas.”

Global Gypsum Magazine: “How do

project costs and ongoing costs stack up,

compared to ‘normal’ production?”

Rod MacGregor: “We have two mod-

els for providing solar industrial process

heat to our customers. Th e fi rst option

is to enter into a Power Purchase Agree-

ment (or PPA) with the drywall plant

to supply heat at a specifi c price and

schedule. Instead of paying the local util-

ity for BTUs of natural gas, the drywall

plant pays GlassPoint for BTUs of solar

energy. In good solar locations the price paid will be

much lower than the price paid for natural gas. Further-

more, the price paid to GlassPoint will be a fi xed rate

throughout the duration of the PPA, decoupling the

drywall industry from volatile natural gas prices. In this

scenario, GlassPoint owns, operates, and maintains the

solar fi eld.

Some customers prefer to own and operate their

own equipment. Th is model provides the lowest cost

per solar MMBtu while off ering the most operating

fl exibility. Th e drywall plant can choose to operate and

maintain the equipment internally or enlist GlassPoint

via an operations and maintenance contract. Operations

and Maintenance (O&M) makes up a small fraction of

the cost per solar MMBtu. Th e graph below compares

the price of natural gas paid by industrial users to that of

a GlassPoint solar-thermal system located in the South-

western US. Th is fi gure depicts a system with a cost of

$2.57 per MMBtu, of which O&M costs account

for just $0.35 per MMBtu and the remaining

$2.22 goes toward the cost of capital.”

Global Gypsum Magazine: “Reducing green

house gasses is an international issue with many

countries discussing legislation limiting carbon

emissions. How does this aff ect the drywall

industry? How does GlassPoint address this con-

cern?”

Rod MacGregor: “Every BTU of solar energy

that is used in a drywall plant avoids burning a

BTU of natural gas and the subsequent emissions

it would have produced. In this way, the adoption

of solar power reduces the carbon footprint of the

entire drywall operation. Legislation pending in

the United States may enforce a limit on carbon

emissions from industrial users, implementing a

cap and trade system with fi nancial implications

to those that emit large amounts of greenhouse

gases. Manufacturers that take preventive steps to

30 globalgypsum MAGAZINE November/December 2009

Below: Graph comparingnatural gas prices paid by industrial users (Jan 2001to Aug 2009) to GlassPointsolar thermal system(modeled after drywallplant in SouthwesternUS). The natural gas data is from the US DOE EIA.The chart models the cost of a GlassPoint systemwith and without USfederal tax incentives.

Above: Solar resourcemap of the contiguousUS, showing the location of wallboard plants withviable solar resources.

globalgypsum MAGAZINE

globalgypsum MAGAZINE November/December 2009 31

reduce their carbon footprint, such as implementing re-

newable energy systems and energy effi ciency retrofi ts,

will be impacted less by carbon legislation.”

Global Gypsum Magazine: “Are there any federal

or state incentives available to industrial manufacturers

looking to incorporate solar?

Rod MacGregor: “Th e US government off ers several

fi nancial incentives to drywall companies that want to

install solar thermal industrial process heating systems.

Th ere is an investment tax credit that is worth 30% of

the cost of the solar thermal system and its ancillary

equipment (ducts, heat exchangers, etc.). If the project

begins construction before the end of 2010, the 30% tax

credit is paid as a check when the system is placed in

service.

Th ere is also accelerated depreciation (MACRS)

available that allows for 85% of the cost of the solar fi eld

to be depreciated over the fi rst 5 years.”

Global Gypsum Magazine: “Who are your com-

petitors? Are there any other companies off ering solar

industrial process heating equipment to the drywall

industry?”

Rod MacGregor: “Th ere

are many companies that

manufacture solar thermal

power systems, but they

are primarily focused on

electricity generation. In

theory one of those sys-

tems could be adapted for

drywall manufacture, but

it would be prohibitively

expensive. GlassPoint is the

only system designed spe-

cifi cally to meet the needs

of the drywall manufactur-

ing industry. By combining

proven technologies and

low-cost materials in a new

architecture, GlassPoint can provide, for the fi rst time,

solar heat at a lower price than heat produced by burn-

ing natural gas.”

Global Gypsum Magazine: “Is GlassPoint’s solution

applicable to any industries outside of drywall?”

Rod MacGregor: “Th e opportunity for solar industrial

process heat in industrial markets is immense. More than

one third of all energy used in OECD (Organization for

Economic Co-operation and Development) countries is

used by industry and 60% of the energy consumed is

heat, not electricity. Th is makes industrial process heat

the largest piece of the world’s largest energy market.

GlassPoint’s solar arrays can be eff ectively used

in everything from gypsum calciners to driers of all

kinds to steam generators. Th ese processes are used in

applications like plaster production, ceiling tile manu-

facture, paper manufacture, enhanced oil recovery and

municipal waste water treatment. GlassPoint is initially

targeting the drywall manufacture and petrochemical

industries.”

Contact Rod MacGregor at info@glasspoint.com.

Left: Solar thermalpower generation with

thermal storage is al-ready deployed at large

scale. Andasol, in South-ern Spain, occupies over400 hectares (988 acres)

of land and generatesenough power for

400,000 homes.

Left: Process heataccounts for 22% of total

energy consumption inOECD economies.