Pictured Above: Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen speaks at the announcement by Confluence Solar that the company will locate a manufacturing facility in Clinton, Tenn.

Governor Phil Bredesen and Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber today joined senior leaders of Missouri-based Confluence Solar to announce that the company has selected Clinton, Tennessee as the home of their new manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facility.

The facility will produce premium quality mono-crystal silicon ingots for photovoltaic solar power generation. The company's HiCzT brand products increase the efficiency of solar cells by 15% or more, helping manufacturers of solar panels generate electricity more efficiently at a cost equivalent to or better than can be done using multi-crystal silicon ingot.

The company will develop its facility on a 25 acre site in the Clinton I-75 Industrial Park on Frank Diggs Drive. Initial plans call for a 200,000 square foot building. With its investment, Confluence Solar will qualify for statutory incentive programs including FastTrack Job Training Assistance, FastTrack Infrastructure Development, the Tennessee Jobs Tax Credit and the Super Jobs Tax Credit among others.

Governor Bredesen and Commissioner Kisber were joined at the announcement by Confluence Solar's co-founder John DeLuca, PhD, as well as Jim Highfill, the company's chief operating officer. Dr. DeLuca, began his career in nuclear materials at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the early 1970s and has more than 35 years of experience conducting research and development with 25 years experience specifically focused on silicon research. Highfill has 22 years of silicon manufacturing experience designing, developing and operating silicon manufacturing facilities throughout the world, including the start up of two overseas silicon manufacturing facilities.