Dec. 26--The ethereal orange glow of plasma, captured inside a westside industrial park, casts new light on Charlotte's energy future.

The startup company Sencera uses the electrically charged gas to make solar panels. It's among the renewable-energy firms reaching for a toehold in a region dominated by coal and nuclear power.

Economic developers, sniffing new business, say Sencera's 15 employees could be among the first of thousands of such jobs in the region. Those workers, they say, could not only generate electricity from the sun, wind and plants but make parts for the machinery of a growing industry.

Even as North Carolina's wind power waits to be commercially harnessed, said UNC Greensboro geographer Keith Debbage, "we can be a key supplier to wind energy anywhere in the world."

A PPG Industries fiberglass plant in Shelby proves his point. The plant staved off what its manager called a "near-death experience," and created 50 new jobs, by shifting to a product used in wind turbine blades.

Debbage recently identified 519 manufacturers in the Charlotte region that could supply components for wind, solar, biomass and geothermal companies.

"It's not a fantasy," he said. "It's a matter of how big a potential market there is and how quickly it can happen."

Only 24 to 32 renewable-energy companies, depending on who's counting, now operate in the region. The State Energy Office lists more than 100 renewable-energy manufacturers in North Carolina this year, up from 28 in 2005.

Charlotte's energy sector is on a hiring spree, but most of it is focused on new nuclear power plants.

Still, global investment is flowing into renewables as technology improves, prices for coal and natural gas grow, and governments demand cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels.

A major catalyst in North Carolina is a state law, passed last year, that will force utilities to make 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewable sources and energy efficiency by 2021. The state also offers renewable-energy tax credits and created a nonprofit agency, NC GreenPower, to promote alternative energy.

"We think it's fantastic what North Carolina has done for solar energy," said Sencera CEO Rusty Jewett.

Charlotte's appeal

In choosing to invest $36.8 million in a Charlotte factory, he said, Sencera passed up possible locations in Canada, Germany and Dubai.

Building leases are cheap here, salaries smaller and workers more likely to stay with their companies, Jewett said.