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14 <br />DEVELOPMENT OF A SOLAR CLUSTER IN ORANGE COUNTY <br />Orange County Economic Development Commission <br />s,o~ <br />~ 5,000 <br />e 4,000 <br />~ 3,000 <br />c <br />~ 2,000 <br />1,000 <br />April 13, 2009 <br />0. <br />1995 t997 t999 zoos 2003 Zoos 2007 2009 <br />YEAR <br />Figure 3-Global PV Installation Forecast (from Solar America Initiative, 20(17) <br />There aze currently not a huge volume of solar manufacturing facilities in the <br />area, which provides a unique opportunity tb carve out a niche in this mazket for Orange <br />County. According to a recent study produced by the North Carolina Energy Office in <br />2008 there were only 13 solaz manufacturing companies in North Cazolina. Although the <br />manufacturing mazket is immature, the base to build a solar manufacturing sector is <br />akeady in place. The potential supply chain for solar utilizes the capacity and product <br />output of existing manufacturers. Specifically for the solar industry, a variety of existing <br />manufacturers can be utilized, with the leading supply chain manufacturers for the solaz <br />industry including semiconductors, plastic and resin <br />manufacturing and sheet metal work manufacturing <br />(Debbage, 2008). Figure 4 presents the potential <br />supply chain for the solar industry in 2008. <br />A study completed in 2008 identified 296 <br />potential supply (inns, with existing employment of <br />over 32,000 included in North Cazolina's potential <br />supply chain to support solaz industry (Debbage, <br />"The geography of the <br />new energy supply chain is <br />tightly concentrated along <br />the I-85 corridor between <br />Charlotte, the Triad and <br />the Research Triangle <br />region...." <br />From "Renewable Energy In North Carolina: <br />The Potential Supply Chain. Dr. Keith G. <br />Debbage, GSK Faculty Fellow, Institute for <br />Emerging Issues and Professor of Urban <br />Geography, University of North Carolina at <br />Greensboro. <br />For EDC use only 8 <br />