Tempe-based First Solar, the country's largest maker of solar panels, will be laying off 2,000 workers and closing its plant in Germany. Despite this, solar industry experts say things have never been better here in Arizona.
"The Arizona market is strong, we're number three in installed capacity in the nation," said Michael Neary of the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association.
And because of this, more than 12,000 new jobs have been created for this now $2 billion industry in Arizona.
"Here at Harmon alone, we've had like a thousand percent increase in employees from 2008 to 2012," said Gary Held of Harmon Solar.
So do troubles at First Solar affect the local solar market?
"We are polar opposites as far as the industry goes. We do residential and commercial PV solar, where First Solar does solar farms with a different technology called thin-film technology. Our industry is as strong as it's even been," said Held.
But with this free, precious resource that comes out nearly ever day, you still don't see home after home or business after business using solar panels. Industry experts say it's all about educating the public.
"There's a fairly decent return on investment on these products. It's a long term investment in your home. In a sense you're creating your own power plant," added Neary.
Although it's unclear exactly how many First Solar jobs may be affected locally, the company received roughly $50 million worth of incentives on the state and local level to open a new manufacturing factory in Mesa. Those incentives were based on building a new factory, hiring new employees and paying those employees about the county average.
Copyright 2012 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
