Wacker to boost ET's emerging solar industry

German chemical company Wacker Chemie AG’s plan to build a $1 billion plant in Bradley County will be another important block in the foundation of a solar energy industry taking shape in Tennessee, Knoxville economic development officials said Thursday.

Thom Mason, chairman of Innovation Valley Inc. and director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said the Wacker plant, which will manufacture polysilicon, will draw any number of “green” companies to East Tennessee, and likely will boost the role of ORNL as a research leader for the solar industry.

Polysilicon is a material used to convert sunlight into electricity.

Innovation Valley Inc. is a regional partnership devoted to economic development in the Knoxville-Oak Ridge region.

Mike Edwards, president and CEO of the Knoxville Chamber, said solar and other “green” energies are the future in terms of business growth and jobs.

“This is a big deal once people understand that this is the growth industry not just for here — this is the growth industry for the world,” Edwards said.

The Wacker plant would fit well with other solar initiatives developing across the state, Mason said. These include another polysilicon facility that Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. plans to build in Clarksville, Tenn., the existing AGC plant in Kingston that produces the “float” glass used to cover solar panels and a planned facility by the Japanese-based Sharp Electronics Corp. in Memphis that would assemble all these materials into solar panels.

Then, there is money earmarked for “green” business development in Tennessee available in the federal economic stimulus package, Mason notes.

“There is going to be a real opportunity from the stimulus package for companies that would do solar panel installation,” he said.

Mason said a Nashville company is the only one in Tennessee right now he is aware of that is certified to install solar panels.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/feb/26/wacker-boost-ets-emerging-solar-industry/