On April 28, Dr. Stephanie A. Burns, Dow Corning chairman, president and CEO, delivered keynote remarks during a Brookings Institution briefing titled, "Scaling up Solar: how far can we go?" in Washington, D.C. Burns was invited in recognition of the leadership role Dow Corning has played in the solar energy sector.
Her speech focused on the policies needed to scale-up and expand the solar energy industry in the United States.
"We are decidedly behind other nations in harvesting the sun's power to help satisfy our enormous appetite for energy," she said. "Dow Corning entered the advocacy arena because we have customers - advanced manufacturers and job creators - who realize the immense potential of the enormous, untapped U.S. market for alternative energy. These customers wanted to know what we, as a world-leading solar component manufacturer, were doing to influence the growth of this industry in the U.S."
Dow Corning's silicon-based materials are used in solar cell manufacturing, solar module assembly and installation. In the past five years, Dow Corning and its joint venture Hemlock Semiconductor Group, have announced investments of more than $5 billion to research and develop as well as to expand production of materials critical to the solar industry.