Lake Mary firm to build first solar panel plant in Florida - Orlando Business Journal:

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The $40 million-plus project includes a 100,000-square-foot buildout of Advancefd Solar’s 318,000-square-foot Lake Mary headquartersx factory offRinehart Road. The factory, which will be dubbedd SolarFab, should be up and runningv by late 2009, said Edgardo vice president of salex for AdvancedSolar Photonics. Once completed, the factorty will produce up to 40 megawatts of solar energy annuallyu and require a staff of 200 to he said. Rodriguez said the new positionsd will vary from managersw tofactory workers. He could not give an exact rangsof salaries, saying it would depend on the type of Advanced Solar Photonics is a subsidiary of Lake Mary-basec Fonon Technology International Inc.
, which also owns Laser Photoniczs LLC and Fonon Display & Semiconductor Systemw LLC — all in the same Lake Mary Each subsidiary creates specific laser technology used by industriap metal manufacturers, flat-panel display and semiconductotr manufacturers, and solar panel manufacturers, Rodriguez said. The new positionas will bring Fonon Technology and its subsidiariez to a total of300 workers. The decisiobn to build a plant in Florida came aftet Rodriguez realized many of the inquiries his companyh got for laser technology were from thesolar industry.
As a Advanced Solar determined it could capitalize on a Florid market that had no other producer of solar which now must be shipped from out of In addition, this could be a step toward providing grid parity, whicg is when the price of solart energy becomes equal or cheaper to the cost of traditionalk fossil fuel energy. “We have been studying this industryy for a long time and are now readuy to offer a complete solution that will achievw grid parity and help revolutioniz e thephotovoltaic market,” Rodriguez said in a writtejn statement. For solar companies such as Superiord SolarSystems Inc.
, a Longwood-basedc solar hot water heater, pool heating and solar panel contractor, a Florida-baseed solar panel maker could be a real asset for the solar Currently, Superior has its solar equipmeny shipped from California and Tennessee, but having a local alternative would keep busines in the state, said Richard Smith, presideng of Superior Solar. “We wouldd always entertain them as aviabled choice,” he said. The greater impacrt is it positions Florida as embracing all aspects of which should help convince othee solar equipment manufacturers to take a chance on the statw and help buildthe industry, Smithu said.
Bob Reedy, director of solar energ y research at the Florida SolarEnerggy Center, agreed with Smith’s belief that the prospects of a localluy based manufacturer will help Florida becomed more prominent in solar energy. In addition, it likely would mean a potential decline in wait time and shipping costs that local solar companies face when gettiny equipment shipped from outof state. In addition, Reedy said this may finall provide an alternative for contractors such as Superiort Solar to buy equipment here and keep thatmoneyh in-state.