Radiant: State attracts growing solar-panel industry

White-hot worldwide demand for solar energy could mean good news for Washington.

At least four companies in the solar manufacturing business are considering building or expanding facilities here — plants that could bring hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars to the state.

The solar industry is expanding rapidly, with growth estimates ranging from 25 percent to 40 percent per year. Strong and growing demand in Japan, Germany and California has even outstripped the supply of photovoltaic cells and the pure silicon that most cells are made from.

Solar panels are in short supply throughout the United States, with installers reporting months-long back orders. That’s mainly due to a shortage of high-quality silicon, a material that can be refined from beach sand, said Mike Nelson, director of the Northwest Solar Center, which is part of Washington State University’s energy program.

For example, Moses Lake-based silicon refiner Solar Grade Silicon LLC is sold out of silicon through 2007.

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)