BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — A Potsdam-based solar startup run by the former CEO of the now defunct LC Drives company is slated to receive $1.2 million in federal funding to develop a new inverter technology.

Mission Sun will receive the money from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the federal government’s two-year program to invest in the domestic solar supply chain, announced Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand Thursday.

Mission Sun will use the funding to build next generation solar products including further development of its solar inverter technology which will reportedly make solar panels cheaper and more efficient, said a press release from the senators’ offices.

“Mission Sun and its sister company Mission Power are excited to build the next generation of utility scale solar inverters,” said Russel Marvin, Mission Sun president. Marvin formerly ran the now shuttered LC Drives Corp. which was based in Potsdam and Ballston Spa.

“We appreciate Senator Schumer’s foresight to help make this DOE program happen. Mission Power and Mission Sun are committed to enabling cost effective decarbonization, North Country manufacturing jobs, and high technology partnerships in the region.”

LC Drives

LC Drives was an innovative electric motor manufacturing and development company.

LC Drives operated previously from the Shipley Center for Innovation, a business incubator run by Clarkson University in downtown Potsdam. The company received hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funds as well as a substantial loan from St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency.

The company furloughed its employees and shut down its operation in September 2021 after the pull out of a potentially major investor. Some employees reached out to North Country This Week about issues regarding paid time off funds that had not been paid out. However, details as to how that issue was resolved remain unclear.

While in operation, however, it was poised to construct a manufacturing facility on Route 56 north of the village of Potsdam and begin production of electric motors that could be used in the shipping industry. In his pitch, Marvin said the plant would create 500 jobs, but that never came to fruition.

The town of Potsdam established a new water and sewer district extending development on the Route 56 corridor, at least in part to support the LC Drive’s project.

While in operation, LC Drives enjoyed a $15 million investment by Koch Engineering Solutions and employed around 100 people between its Potsdam and Ballston Spa locations.

Mission Sun

The $1.2 million in federal funding announced by Schumer and Gillibrand will go towards Mission Sun’s transformational MS350 inverter technology, a next generation solar product for the DOE’s SunShot 2030 initiative. The 350 KW utility scale solar inverter is designed and built from scratch in America, and the inverter switch components are 50-100 times faster than any other technology in the world, Mission Sun says.

Mission Sun’s products are created using core technology developed by its sister company, Mission Power, which produces power electronics with half the weight and size of existing products. Mission Sun and Mission Power have ties to Clarkson University faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as the broader North Country, a press release from Schumer’s office said.

This $1.2 million investment is a part of DOE’s $52 million push to provide federal funding for 19 projects across 12 states to help establish a domestic solar supply chain, increase energy security, and boost economic opportunities in communities across the country, Schumer’s office said.

“With North Country companies like Mission Sun leading the charge, the future is sunny and bright for American-made solar technologies. This over $1 million investment by the DOE, supercharged by the historic investments I secured in the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law, will help put top notch scientists in Potsdam to work reshoring solar manufacturing to build America’s clean-energy future, all while fighting climate change,” said Senator Schumer.

“I was proud to fight for and help pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law so that we could make critical investments in domestic renewable energy supply chains through great companies like Mission Sun,” said Senator Gillibrand. “This $1.2 million in federal funding will boost our state’s economy, bring clean energy jobs to the North Country, and help create a better future for generations to come.”