FYI,

"President Discusses Solar Technology and Energy Initiatives in
Michigan"
United Solar Ovonic LLC
Auburn Hills, Michigan
White House Press Release
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060220-2.html

: I just had a interesting tour of United Solar here in the state of
: Michigan. I also had the honor of meeting the inventor of a lot of
: the technology and the machines here. A couple of things struck
: me. One, solar technology is commercial, and particularly because
: they've figured out ways to make long rolls of this photovoltaic
: technology. That's important to help us achieve a major goal,
: which is to become less dependent on foreign sources of oil.

: The ultimate goal is to have solar technology on your home, and
: that home will become a little power-generating unit unto itself,
: and that if you have extra electricity, that you could put it back
: in your grid, so you become a power producer, but you're using
: renewable sources of energy to power your homes and to fire up
: your refrigerators. And this is real. I really am thankful that
: the folks of this company gave me a chance to come and visit about
: it.

: The role of the government at this point is to continue to spend
: research dollars, to help push technologies forward; is to get
: these technologies to be even more competitive in the marketplace.
: And I'm calling on Congress to join us on this most important
: energy initiative. As most folks know, there's a lot of needless
: politics in Washington, D.C. There's a lot of finger pointing and
: a lot of zero-sum attitude amongst the people up there. And of all
: the issues, becoming less dependent on foreign sources of energy
: is an issue that we ought to be able to unite, and show the
: American people we can work together to help advance the
: technologies that will change the world in which we live.

: I am very excited about what I've seen here. I'm excited about the
: future, because we've got great inventors and great entrepreneurs
: here in our own country, preparing for ways to enable the American
: people to get rid of our addiction to oil. And that will not only
: enhance our economic security, but enhance our national security,
: as well.

Mark Reiff