Alternative Power

New Mexico is slated to become a player in the global alternative energy sector, with the announcement of a leading solar equipment manufacturer looking at a desert stretch of land for a site for solar manufacturing.

Schott AG, a company founded by Otto Schott, Ernst Abbe, Carl Zeiss and Roderich Zeiss in 1884, specializes in making glasses for a multitude of purposes.

The company also produces photovoltaic modules in Massachusetts, and is looking to expand their production to Albuquerque in New Mexico.

The solar plant is to produce both photovoltaic panels and receivers for solar thermal power plants. The project estimation requires about 200,000 square feet, and approximately 350 people.

Construction work has already started at the site, and production is expected to commence in 2009. Depending on the demand and growth of the alternative energy source industry, the company hopes to expand the plant to 4 times its original size and employ as many as 1,500 people.

The company will be investing to the tune of 100 million dollars initially, but will probably increase that figure over the succeeding years. The company expects the plant to generate development of more than a billion dollars over a long term.

Gerald Fine, president and chief executive of Schott North America said in a report by the AP that he expects the project to be radical in terms of the company, but also to have a large impact on the concept of clean energy. The plant forms a cornerstone in their vision, of solar energy, high-tech manufacturing and the future of the country.

The Albuquerque plant will be located at Mesa Del Sol, a commercial and residential development south of Albuquerque's international airport.