AUBURN HILLS -2-21-06- President Bush met privately Monday with officers of a fast-growing company that makes solar energy panels and said he's convinced that the technology can become commercially viable.

"I'm very excited at what I've seen here," Bush said after spending nearly an hour at the United Solar Ovonics Inc. plant. "I'm excited that we have great inventors and entrepreneurs in this country who can help us get rid of our addiction to oil."

President Bush tours United Solar Ovonics in Auburn Hills with company President Subhendu Guha. Bush said: "I'm excited that we have great inventors and entrepreneurs in this country who can help us get rid of our addiction to oil."
 

Bush visited the facility as part of a two-day tour across the nation's midsection promoting his initiative to develop alternative energy sources. That includes a request in his 2007 budget plan for $148 million to support research in solar energy, up about $65 million from 2006.

"The role of government at this point is to support research to help push this technology along," Bush said after meeting with Robert C. Stempel, former General Motors Corp. chairman and now CEO of Energy Conversion Devices Inc., and other company officials. Energy Conversion Devices owns United Solar Ovonics.

Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative also has broad implications for the auto industry, representing the latest of numerous government programs over the past 30 years to break America's frequently comfortable but sometimes painful dependence on imported oil.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm met briefly with Bush and pushed another priority of the auto industry and its advocates in state government and Congress -- tailoring trade policies so that they don't hand advantages to overseas competitors.

"I told him thank you for highlighting this great Michigan company," Granholm said. "We want to be the alternative energy capital of America. I also said to him not to forget about our great automotive manufacturing industry.

"He said, 'I can't make your automakers profitable.' I said, 'Yes, but don't forget fair trade policies.' "

United Solar is one of the most promising ventures of Energy Conversion Devices, the Michigan company which for decades has pioneered a wide range of alternate energy technologies. The company has led the way in technologies to make solar panels in a continuous moving strip and with innovative materials, more efficient than previous methods.

It posted $39.04 million in sales in the six months that ended Dec. 31, up 61 percent from the similar period last year, and was profitable in the most recent quarter. But solar energy production has depended heavily on government subsidies and is not fully competitive with traditional electrical generation on a large scale. Much the same is true with Bush's ethanol initiative: Ethanol production also depends on government subsidies at present and isn't yet price-competitive with gasoline.

Developing new sources of energy emerged this year as a major new policy initiative for the Bush administration, although the federal government has long supported a wide range of energy research.

In his State of the Union speech last month, Bush said it's vital for the nation's economic growth to develop new energy sources -- particularly home-grown ones.

He announced a goal of replacing 75 percent of the nation's oil imports from the politically unstable Middle East by 2025. That included a $120 million investment in the 2007 budget plan on new, less expensive ways to make ethanol as an alternative to gasoline.

In all, Bush wants the Department of Energy to increase energy research funding by 22 percent in the coming fiscal year, with funds dedicated to every facet of energy production: solar, wind energy, nuclear, hydrogen and other petroleum alternatives and coal.

Earlier Monday, Bush visited a Johnson Controls Inc. plant in Milwaukee, where he repeated his energy vision, including more federal funding for basic research in automobiles powered by hybrid gasoline-electric powertrains, fueled by ethanol or running on hydrogen-powered fuel cells.

"I know it came as a shock to some to hear a Texan stand up there in front of the country and say, 'We've got a real problem, America is addicted to oil,' " Bush said. "But I meant it, because it's a true fact, and we've got to do something about it now."

Critics, however, said Bush's energy policy still focuses largely on promoting the old, despite all his talk about the new.

"The proof is in the pudding," said Jason Barbose of the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan. "Don't let today's visit disguise the fact that the president's energy plan still centers on subsidizing the coal and nuclear industry to build more dirty and dangerous power."

It was Bush's fourth visit to Michigan since his second term began in January 2005.

As Air Force One left, an unidentified pilot of a single engine airplane flying in restricted air space was routed out of the area by two fighter jets. Lt. Penny Carroll, spokeswoman for Fighter Wing 127 at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, said two F-16 fighter jets took off about 4:50 p.m. in pursuit of the aircraft.

Detroit News Staff Writer Charlie Cain contributed to this story.