Jackson Free Press

Sept. 19, 2011

Despite the recent high-profile bankruptcy of Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer in Fremont, Calif. that was backed by a federal loan guarantee, proponents of solar power in Mississippi said the state is poised to take a leading role in alternative energy.

Companies in Jackson's fledgling solar-energy industry hosted a ribbon cutting for the first completed solar-powered system in Jackson. Sundial Solar Power Developers installed the system at Central Mississippi Health Services' southwest Jackson clinic on Robinson Road.

Dr. Robert Smith, CEO of Central Mississippi Health Services, said he expects the clinic to save 50 percent on its energy bill, which will help it control health-care costs while protecting the environment.

Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said although the clinic was the first completed solar-energy system in the city, solar-powered houses are now being constructed in midtown Jackson.

The ribbon cutting was part of "Solar Saturday," a series of events hosted by the Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association to bring awareness of solar energy in Mississippi.

C. Tucker Crawford, president of the association, said solar energy can save people money, and within the next 10 to 15 years, solar-powered households might not have to pay a power bill at all.

"You may have read some criticism of solar energy in the news lately, but those are just hiccups," he told the group at the ribbon cutting.

Crawford told the Jackson Free Press that Solyndra's bankruptcy is not characteristic of the solar power industry as a whole.

"You'll see those kinds of failures from time to time, but our industry as a whole on a global scale is still expanding rapidly, so Mississippi is poised to take a leadership role in that, especially with three new plants," he said. "I think it's going to create a lot of new jobs."

Crawford said companies in the south will start buying solar panels and other materials from a regional source instead of from overseas or from California.

Several California-based companies that make solar panels or other alternative energy products have announced they will build factories in Mississippi. Stion, a solar panel manufacturer, opened a factory in Hattiesburg Friday. The state legislature passed an incentives bill at the beginning of the month to entice Calisolar, which makes silicon for solar panels, to build a factory in Columbus.

Annie Shirley, president of Sundial, said she is not sure yet whether her company will work with Stion, but having companies in the state would help Sundial get materials quickly.

"If you have to go out of state, it takes a little while--I want to say six weeks, maybe a month--but with companies in the state, it should help us a whole lot," she said.