BERLIN, Germany (UPI) \-- First Solar, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based company,

has said it will invest nearly \$150 million in a new solar module

manufacturing plant in eastern Germany, a region that desperately needs

the 400 jobs it is expected will be created.

First Solar will build the plant in Frankfurt/Oder, a city of roughly

65,000 in Brandenburg, the eastern German state surrounding Berlin. The

company aims to produce state-of-the-art thin film solar cells, which

are substantially lighter than normal solar cells but produce the same

or higher electrical currents.

Upon completion, the plant will generate some 100 megawatts, the

company said.

The importance of the project for the city, and for the entire state,

became clear at the contract\`s official signing ceremony: Present were

not only state Economy Minister Ulrich Junghans, of Chancellor Angela

Merkel\`s Christian Democratic Union, but also Wolfgang Tiefensee, the

federal minister responsible for the reconstruction of eastern Germany.

\'First Solar is a key investment partner for Frankfurt/Oder. (The

project) shows the city is a competent place for modern industries and

for technologies of the future. Frankfurt is getting a new, sunny

face,\' Junghans said.

The sun has not always shone brightly on Frankfurt in recent years. Not

to be confused with Germany\`s financial capital in the western part of

the country, Frankfurt lies on the border with Poland, and has had to

undergo a gloomy redevelopment in the past 15 or so years.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, the

city \-- because of high unemployment and low living conditions \-- lost

as much as 27 percent of its total population.

While the unemployment rate still towers at more than 19 percent,

recent years have brought improvements. Frankfurt has become something

of Germany\`s microelectronic Silicon Valley, with a large settlement of

semiconductor manufacturing companies. The city has also used

substantial federal aid to better its infrastructure and lure

businesses into the area with the help of extensive hands-on support

from city officials.

\'We are helping them to find qualified personnel and we\`re helping
them

with all the paperwork so that they can exclusively concentrate on

their business model,\' Stephan Lubomierski, who represents a group that

promotes Frankfurt as a place to do business in, told United Press

International. \'This project is of high importance for the city.

Photovoltaic is a very interesting and promising technology.\'

He said the city hopes additional jobs will be created by supplier and

logistics companies, and that more companies will enter the region.

Lubomierski praised the city\`s infrastructure, located in the center of

the continent where both Eastern and Western European customers could

easily be supplied \-- Berlin\`s airport is less than an hour away, and

the city is also connected to a major Autobahn.

First Solar, however, was likely also convinced by a check of more than

\$58 million in extra funding, made out to the company by the European

Commission.

\'We welcome the outstanding support from the European Commission, the

German Authorities, the Industrial Investment Council, the

administration of the German state of Brandenburg and Frankfurt/Oder,\'

Heiner Eichmueller, the director of the new plant, said in a statement.

Germany has high goals for its own renewable energy future: The

government has set the goal of generating at least 20 percent of

today\`s electricity consumption with the help of renewable energy

sources by 2020. By the middle of the decade, roughly half of Germany\`s

energy should come from renewables, the government said.

Despite requests for an interview, First Solar officials were not

available for comment for this article.