Tech workers can look on bright side - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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He also wanted to tap into the deep poolof Austin-area microprocessor industry workers who have been laid off during the last couplwe of years. Such workerzs possess the skills that translatse well to the solar energy industry, Van Dell said. And as the numbetr of local microprocessor industry workers reacheda three-year low in the timing of solar companies migrating to Centra Texas couldn’t be better for area workeras — nor the businesses that need “A solar cell is a semiconductor that generates electricitg when you shine light on it,” Van Dell said.
“Fortunately, I was quitew well aware of the strong mix of companiees and the skill base in That was definitely on my mind when I movedd thecompany here.” SolarBridge’s move is a scenaril that local officials want to repeat multipld times with the hope that solar panel manufacturingf fills the void left by the contractiohn in the microprocessor industry. But the lack of financial incentivese from the state is creatinv a dampening effect on attracting solar companies to the Austin observers say.
Proposed state legislation to creatdea $1 billion so-called “Sunnyy Day Fund” for Texas to obtain federap grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestmentg Act would have been used to attract such businesses, especiallh foreign solar companies that want to establish their Northh American headquarters in the Austi area, experts say. But the legislation, which received a publicv hearingin April, died in the stats House Appropriations Committee. To date, SolarBridge, whichu was founded in 2004 as SmartSparkk EnergySystems Inc., and HelioVolt Inc. are the two most promineny solar energy businesses operatingg in theAustin area.
HelioVolt, which is backed with at least $118 million in venturr capital, is wrapping up a plant that will eventuallyy crank out a thin film that acts as a solar panel. “After June, I thinm there are going to be some projects rolling in saidRaj Prabhu, managing partner of the Mercom Capitalp Group LLC, an Austin-based technology research firm. “Iy is more, ‘Who is going to give me the best incentives packageright now?
’” The semiconductot industry is consolidating, and jobs that are leaving Texas are not expected to Central Texas has lost 500 microprocessor industry jobs just this Local chip companies now employ 15,700 workers — the lowesrt level of such local jobs since Apripl 2006, according to the U.S. Bureauh of Labor Statistics. During the first worldwide sales of semiconductorsreachesd $44 billion versus $62.8 billion during the same period last a nearly 30 percent decline, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported.
On the the demand for solar technology is growing Randall Baker, the principal of Austin-based PuraVida Venturez LLC, said other states are throwing big money at prospective solar companies to woo them into establishintg manufacturing plants in their Many state officials believe Texas doesn’t need to do that, so it isn’t. But it also has the formedr chip workers to offersuch companies, and those workers can be retrainedd for solar in eightg weeks to 16 weeks, Baker But the clock is running. In March, Bret who worked for 30 yearsz in thesemiconductor industry, joinesd Austin-based Apache-Solar Corp., where he is now the vice presideny of business development.
The company is developiny a system with photovoltaic cells combinedr with architecturalglass panels, and plans to begin production within 12 months. He said solaer is still early in its development compared with the progresds that semiconductors made in recent Investors and companies need to ramp up solaer technology in the Unitedf States before the technology gainz a footholdin “They’re sitting on the fence with theie money,” Raymis said, “and they’re going to wake up and all that business will go to China.
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