Musk gives Buffalo, ny a solar mfg plant

[EatenByLimestone]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musks-biggest-challenge-yet-143000250.html

 

[begreen]

That should make quite a difference. 5000 good paying jobs in a job depressed city is not trivial

 

[EatenByLimestone]

You betcha. I hope it works out and rebuilds the area.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

"The panels will be based on new technology innovated by Silevo, a company SolarCity bought last June for $200 million, plus incentives tied to how many panels the company can produce. The panels work by adding more layers of semiconductor material to existing technology and should be about 30 percent more efficient than most of what the company uses now, SolarCity spokeswoman Kady Cooper said."


This paragraph stood out to me.

 

[velvetfoot]

I hope our tax dollars aren't being frittered away, again.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

At least 700 million are by the article. One can only hope they stay after 10 years... Although I'd bet that equipment will be as useful as the press that made the chevette's body. I don't fault musk for taking a free factory.

 

[begreen]

"The panels will be based on new technology innovated by Silevo, a company SolarCity bought last June for $200 million, plus incentives tied to how many panels the company can produce. The panels work by adding more layers of semiconductor material to existing technology and should be about 30 percent more efficient than most of what the company uses now, SolarCity spokeswoman Kady Cooper said."

This paragraph stood out to me.

30% is a significant gain. I'm a little 'green' with envy.

 

[peakbagger]

Musk didn't give a plant, NY state bought a plant

 

[velvetfoot]

I'm thinking 'Solyndra'?

 

[maple1]

I hope our tax dollars aren't being frittered away, again.

Don't think it matters much where you're at - everybodys tax dollars seem to get frittered away.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

THe chinese are probably already plotting what the can do to stop it before it starts. Their Govt will spend whatever they have to to gain and keep marketshare. We should be slapping a tariff equal to their qovt subsidies on all their imports to even the playing field. Otherwise it will be another solyndra.

 

[begreen]

Shipping large heavy items to the east coast puts China at an economic disadvantage. The bigger worry for Solar City is whether a technological advance outdates their tech. It looks like they have already hedged that bet.

 

[peakbagger]

Contrary to what is said in the press Solyndra was regarded as a "smart bet" when it was funded by DOE. Sure the VC folks shifted all the risk to the fed but a the time all the experts were projecting a major shortage of semiconductor grade silicon. At the time companies had to buy stocks of silicon a couple of year in advance to assure they would have it when it was needed. Solyndra and several other firms rolled the dice and went with CIGs technology which didn't require silicon. Unfortunately the "black swan" was China subsidizing silicon plants and building them dirt cheap by using once through processes that generated major volumes of toxic waste that was dumped into the nearest river. They went in quick and cheap and the price of silicon dropped precipitously. Solyndra was the high profile failure but several other CIG firms also went under.

The big question is if China can duplicate the new process that Musk has bought and flood the market with cheaper versions.

 

[velvetfoot]

"Musk has bought" with whose money?

 

[drz1050]

You guys do realize that there are still a lot of semiconductor manufacturers in the US, right?

China can try to copy a lot of things, but just about everything is patented. Once the patents run out, they're obsolete.

Micron has plants in Virginia, Utah and Idaho. Intel is in Arizona and Oregon, somewhere else too that isn't coming to mind. Globalfoundries is in New York. Samsung is in Texas.

700 mil sounds like a lot of $ to you and me, but actually doesn't go very far for one of these places. Globalfoundries also got a big tax break, but they still spent over 8 billion to build their fab in NY.

Even if the companies aren't paying taxes directly.. if they bring a few thousand jobs to the area, each one of those people are paying taxes, so the company is still paying.