Confluence Solar, which makes monocrystalline silicon ingots for solar PV products, recently invested $200 million in Tennessee’s statewide Solar Initiative technology development program. The money will fund a manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution facility in Clinton, Tenn., near Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

According to Governor Phil Bredesen, the investment is the latest in a series of infusions of capital in the state’s solar industry and statewide growth in R&D. Confluence Solar will develop its PV facility on a 25 acre site in an industrial park, creating jobs for an estimated 200-400 employees.

In addition to the investment, Tennessee has announced several other solar developments and partnerships:

• Construction of polysilicon manufacturing facilities near Cleveland by German chemical giant Wacker Chemie, and in Clarksville by Hemlock Semiconductor.

• Investment by the state of $62.5 million for research and energy production, including creation of the Tennessee Solar Institute, a partnership of ORNL and the University of Tennessee.

• The mid-March announcement by the Department of Energy of the Tennessee Valley Energy Enterprise, a concept to reuse federal sites at ORNL and elsewhere in the Southeast for energy-related research in solar/photovoltaic, electrical grid enhancements, cleaner coal, and work on hybrid vehicles.

I think Tennessee’s Solar initiative program represents a new economic engine for the state. There should be no doubt in the business world that this region has the high-tech workforce, the cutting-edge research, and affordable business costs to make it a solar economy leader.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about solar power