Traditional solar photovoltaics have long payback times and are even trickier for the dumb electric grid to handle than wind.

Ingeteam's Wisconsin plant will manufacture generators for wind turbines, converters for the wind industry and inverters for its solar photovoltaics division, Sotes said.

SUNNY It differs from solar photovoltaics, which turn the sun's rays directly into electricity in panels and generate some power even on overcast days.

Electricity produced from solar photovoltaics increases rapidly, though its share of global generation reaches only around 2 percent by 2035.

According to Clean Edge research, the global market for solar photovoltaics expanded from $2.5 billion in 2000 to $71.2 billion in 2010.