AE Polysilicon moves to Pennsylvania

Finds a friend in Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell

Fairless Hills, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA will be the home of AE Polysilicon as announced in this press release, PA Governor Rendell Announces Arrival of Solar Material Manufacturer in Bucks County. I first saw this reported in the Weekly Newsletter from Solarbuzz here, Fairless Hills, PA, USA: AE Polysilicon to Construct New Manufacturing Facility.

AE Polysilicon is purchasing about 20 acres of land with an existing 39,000 square foot building in the Keystone Opportunity Improvement Zone (KOIZ). AE Polysilicon plans to renovate the structure into a corporate headquarters and begin constructing an open air manufacturing facility on five acres of land this July and create at least 143 jobs in 2008.

The Bucks County Economic Development Corporation teamed with the Governor's Action Team to lure AE Polysilicon away from New Jersey with a $1.92 million financial package including a $1.76 million loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority. AE Polysilicon is also eligible for a low interest $5.8 million loan from the Citizen’s Job Bank in return for a commitment to create new jobs in the Keystone state.

"We are honored to be part of Governor Rendell's vision," said
Dr. York Tsuo, president of AE Polysilicon. "The amount of
support we have received from the state and local governments
and industry has made Pennsylvania the ideal state to locate
our production facilities."

So this news will be a shock to the AE Polysilicon skeptics. There are a few immediate questions about this development. How and/or from whom will AE Polysilicon source the silane or trichlorosilane required by their Fluidized Bed Reactor technology? Does this mean AE Polysilicon is on track for initial Phase 1 capacity of 1,500 metric tons per year by the end of 2008? How did New Jersey lose this deal? Is this related to the mismanagement of funds over at the New Jersey Clean Energy Program?