Stumbling stock markets and all that pesky “recession” talk notwithstanding, a number of overseas solar power manufacturers have either begun to or are contemplating setting up shop in the United States. This terrific International Herald Tribune article humorously profiles the recent push German manufacturer SolarWorld AG has taken into Oregon, where it has invested $500 million to build a factory that currently produces enough solar cells to fit 1,700 solar panels a day. The company’s presence has been well-received in its neighboring community of Hillsboro, as well as Oregon itself, which, as the author of the article notes, has an unemployment rate second only to Michigan’s. Yet Boris Klebensberger, the head of SolarWorld’s American branch, is upbeat.

“Was I worried about our position? No!” says Mr. Klebensberger, dismissing any hint that he was nervous at the opening.

As the article notes, however, Mr. Klebensberger is not simply being naïve. Analysts have said that new federal incentives to spur green tech development will give the US industry a boost:

The recent stimulus package included grants for businesses and utilities that install solar energy systems, and the bank bailout package last year removed the dollar cap on a 30 percent tax credit for home installations. Makers of renewable energy equipment also received help in the stimulus package, signed by President Obama.

“I think the writing on the wall is the U.S. is going to be the big market,” says Jesse Pichel, a solar analyst at Piper Jaffray.

The message for solar companies, Mr. Pichel says, is “get your butt over to the U.S. if you want to participate and get some of that stimulus package money.”

SolarWorld isn’t alone: Japanese electronics giant Sanyo is currently building a solar wafer factory in Salem, Oregon, slated to begin production this fall, and big overseas players such as Sharp and Chinese giant Suntech have planted their feelers onto US soil. How our foreign friends perform in the long run, of course, remains to be seen—but I don’t suppose their domestic competitors will be turning a blind eye to them.