The plant will cost 50 m euros to develop, and operations should start by 2008, employing around 130 people.
The new plant will be located in Saxony, an area which already boasts around 250 solar companies and employs 17,000 employees engaged in the semi-conductor, electronics, and micro system industries, with a combined turnover of 3 billion euros per year. In particular, Signet Solar has chosen Dresden as a location due to the fact that Applied Materials, an American silicon supplier, is also based there. No wonder why the area is called Silicon Saxony.
"The investment of Signet Solar is proof not only of the strengths of eastern Germany as an investment location, but also for all of Germany as a center for research and development. Our universities and research institutions are on the cutting edge in scientific discovery, especially in fields such as solar energy and microelectronics that are certain to grow in significance. Additionally, the German government at both the federal and state levels offers financial support to these industries, further strengthening the chances that international companies will succeed with an investment in Germany.", said Mr Nikolai Dobrott, Director for Renewable Energies and Resources at Invest in Germany.
The Californian firm believes that solar energy will be cost competitive with conventional energy sources in the next 5 years, something that other companies also believe, although that very much depends on the new technological developments achieved. No doubt, plants like this go in the right direction in order to achieve this goal.
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