Friday, February 27, 2009 at 1:58:47 PM - by Nate Lew

The state of Tennessee will soon be home to a $1 billion plant specializing in solar energy components.

In a statement this week, Wacker Chemie AG of Germany announced that it plans to construct a facility to produce hyperpure polycrystalline silicon, an important solar energy resource. The company has purchased 550 acres of land for the plant in Tennessee and expects about 500 new jobs to be created when it is complete.

"We expect polysilicon demand from the solar and semiconductor industries to further increase in coming years. Purchasing the land is an essential prerequisite to quickly build up additional production capacities outside the euro zone in line with the projected market trends and growth in demand," said company CEO Rudolf Staudigl in the statement.

Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen also hailed the announcement, saying that it boosts his state's standing as a leader in manufacturing clean energy technologies. Another state official, Matt Kisber, said that previous projects have already led to the creation of 1,000 new renewable energy jobs in the past year alone in Tennessee.

Separately, an Associated Press report noted that there is no specific timetable for the project yet, with the German company to base its decisions on demand for its product. The news service also noted that construction is expected to take two to three years.