Wacker Chemie, the German silicon producer, said it would build a $1 billion plant in near Cleveland, Tenn. this week to produce polysilicon. Although the chip industry buys silicon too, the growth market is in solar. The deal follows an announcement back in December by Hemlock Semiconductor to build a $1.2 billion plant near Clarksville. The Wacker plant will employ around 500 to 600 people. Both plants will begin operations in 2012. At that time, we could be beyond the current economic debacle. “Wacker is one of the biggest polysilicon producers, and they have been looking to expand in the U.S. for some time now,� Shyam Mehta, an analyst at Greentech Media, told the Tennessean. (Think I may have met Mehta once.) “The solar industry is growing very strong, creating a demand for polysilicon. In response, there have been a lot of announcements by producers about expanding their capacity worldwide.� The real interesting part here is that Tennessee seems to have honed in on a specialty in cleantech. Producing silicon may not be as glamorous as making solar cells, but someone has got to do it. States and nations that learn how to craft workable incentive/infrastructure plans to attract particular industries will likely profit in the coming decades on the green buildout.