Solar Valley, a Reality?
Sep 10, 2009
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Having grown up in Silicon Valley, I am proud of how this area has reinvented itself time and time again. Santa Clara County (sorry, San Francisco and San Mateo County, you're not the valley) survived the defense industry meltdown of the 1990s, the dot-com bust earlier this decade, and now will be the nerve center for the green tech revolution . . . provided that it's a revolution and not well, dissolution . . .Fremont, just across the county line from Milpitas, has had a hard time lately. It's highs and lows are mirrored by the fate of its two automobile plants within its city limits. Take the giant NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.) plant, which GM built in 1982, closed in 1982 and reopened two years later as a joint venture between GM and Toyota. But GM stopped manufacturing cars at NUMMI this year, and Toyota will pull out in 2010, dashing locals' hopes that the improved Prius or other hybrid or electric cars would roll off of the NUMMI assembly lines. Nevertheless, there is hope for this city of 250,000 residents (many from India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, who revitalized the town) . . . Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer, announced over the weekend that it scored a $535 million loan from the federal government to build a panel factory that could employ as many as 2000 people.
Considering that NUMMI's closing will leave about 4,700 people unemployed, this announcement is a huge shot in the arm. 3,000 temporary construction jobs will be necessary for building this factory, and then there are the other jobs that will be sparked by Solyndra's suppliers and customers. This plan could even become greener than what was initially announced last weekend--the solar panels Solyndra plans on churning out could be assembled in the huge NUMMI plant--reducing construction needs and therefore, resources. And personally, I would rather see federal loans like this one be distributed than the billions of dollars sunk into pet projects like "cash for clunkers," which really did nothing put pull automobile demand forward instead of delaying decisions to purchase new autos in 2012 . . . when hopefully plug-in hybrids will take off.
Scalability and cost effectiveness are renewable energy's largest hurdles to widespread success. If Solyndra can pull this off, we may start seeing solar and other technologies becoming more viable. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, Governor Arnold, and Veep Joe Biden (by satellite) attended the Solyndra announcement: I really hope they become busier with events like these on their calendars. We really need it!
