No matter how much their name makes me laugh, there’s nothing funny about Wacker Chemie AG settling on Tennessee as a good place to build its first solar manufacturing plant in the U.S., much less all the solar jobs going to Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Just one look at the DOE’s solar radiation map tells me that Texas should be blowing Tennessee (and all the other states) away when it comes to attracting businesses that rely on solar radiation.
The truth is that solar companies WANT to come to Texas. Right now, there is an intense lobbying effort going on in the capitol to get Texas up to speed with other states that have already adopted solar-friendly rebates and policies like Renewable Portfolio Standards, which would bring more solar jobs to Texas. There’s a lot of excitement from legislators too. By my count, more than 70 bills have been filed to help make Texas more attractive to renewable energy manufacturers and generators.
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