Arizona Lures California Solar Companies Across State Border?

Arizona wants to grow its solar industry. And it’s no secret where the best place in the country is to find fast-growing solar companies ready to expand their operations: California. So it is there that Barry Broome, Chief Executive of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, recently traveled to meet with various Golden State solar executives. California alone controls one-third of the US solar market, the result of a very supportive state government and strong consumer demand.

Arizona and other states are offering tax breaks, low-cost workforces, affordable housing and a business-friendly political climate. Yet Broome insists that he’s not there to raid California for its solar industry. Instead, he foresees a promising energy-symbiosis between the sunny, bordering states. “California’s going to need Arizona as an energy market and we need an export industry, he told the LA Times. “We can’t continue to just live off housing and tourism,” he added.

Indeed, Arizona suffered a major economic hit when the housing bubble burst a few years ago, leaving thousands of its skilled construction workers under- or unemployed. The advent of large-scale solar projects and new manufacturing plants would offer a more sustainable boon to Arizona’s economy. That’s why Broome was sent to California, where he reportedly met with just about every solar company in the state, including up-and-comers like budding start-up Miasolé, a maker of thin-film CIGS-based solar modules.

Broome is also busy courting Chinese solar companies on behalf of his home state. Chinese firms have quietly taken over half of California’s solar market the past couple years. Following his stint in California, Broome headed off to China to court companies like Yingli and Trina Solar, bolstered by the recent announcement that Chinese solar giant Suntech plans to build its first US manufacturing plant in Arizona. Many overseas manufacturers are looking to open manufacturing plants stateside.

In order to succeed in courting California or Chinese companies, Arizona will have to ease fears raised by a recent bill passed through committee in its state legislature. That bill would have allowed utilities to meet renewable energy standards without using solar power, and would have emitted low-carbon sources like nuclear power. Uprising against that bill, which included a threat by Suntech to rescind its manufacturing plans in the state, got it killed before it could settle on the congressional floor. But companies are nonetheless wary of the uneasy political environment in Arizona, making Broome’s job of luring these companies more difficult.

Still, Arizona is a sunny state with plenty of suburban rooftops and open desert land. There’s plenty of room and opportunity for solar power and a solar industry, which likely ensures at least some success for Broome and the state of Arizona. The state already houses American giants like First Solar and Stirling Energy Systems, both of which happen to be building large solar projects in California.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Photo Credit: Get Solar

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