Obama arrived at Solyndra shortly before 9:30 a.m., making a point of shaking hands with workers in white lab coats and hard hats before a tour with Chris Gronet, Solyndra's CEO, and Ben Bierman, executive vice president of operations and engineering.

Their conversation during the tour was largely drowned out by the noise of the factory, but at one point the president could be heard saying, "This is impressive. It really is."

Obama then had a short private meeting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before his public remarks.

He began by joking about his honeymoon 17 years ago, when he and Michelle Obama visited Napa Valley and drove down the coast.

"I was fantasizing about going and renting a car," Obama said. "I was told that would cause a stir, so next time."

Solyndra and companies like it, Obama says, are "leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future."

Obama, who is heading to Lousiana later this week, also talked about the need for alternative energy sources.

"The spill in the gulf, which is just heartbreaking, only underscores the necessity of seeking alternative fuel sources," he said. "We're not going to transition out.

of oil next year, or 10 years from now, but think about it — part of what's happening in the gulf is that oil companies are drilling a mile under water before they hit ground, and then a mile below that before they hit oil. ... We're not going to be able to sustain this kind of fossil fuel use. This planet can't sustain it."

Last year, the Department of Energy gave Solyndra a $535 million loan guarantee funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support construction of a new, commercial-scale manufacturing facility. Solyndra was the first company to receive an Energy Department loan, and in many ways the 5-year-old company has become a poster child for the benefits of the Recovery Act and the ripple effects the federal stimulus spending has had on the nation's economy.

Alan Dillon, a construction worker from Santa Clara, was one of a dozen men who got to pose for a picture with Obama on the active construction site.

"He shook each of our hands, and he thanked us for working hard," said Dillon, 50, a supervisor with contractor Rudolph and Sletten. "It's great that he wants to build factories and put people back to work."

Visible from Interstate 880, Fab 2 is one of the largest construction projects underway in the Bay Area. It has created 3,000 construction-related jobs and draws as many as 1,000 workers to the site on some days. Manufacturing equipment will be installed this summer, and commercial shipments of solar panels are expected to begin later this year.

The visit was yet another shot in the arm for the city of Fremont, which has been riding a wave of good news recently. Tesla Motors and Toyota recently announced a deal to manufacture electric vehicles at the shuttered NUMMI auto plant.

"We're thrilled to have Solyndra, and we're thrilled to have the president come out," said Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman. "His words were very encouraging, and Tesla will kick in and grow."

While the president focused on job creation and the economy, Solyndra executives used the high-profile visit to press for an extension of the popular Treasury Grant Program. The Treasury Grant Program, which allows a cash grant to be used in lieu of tax credits for renewable energy projects, is set to expire in December of this year; the solar industry is lobbying Congress to extend it to 2012. Solyndra executives also said they'd like to see a greater use of solar power by the federal government.

Solyndra, which currently has 1,000 employees, expects to hire an additional 25 new employees a month for the remainder of 2010.

The company has raised $970 million in venture funding from Argonaut Private Equity, Redpoint Ventures, Rockport Capital and others and hopes to raise $300 million more through an initial public offering. It filed an S-1 with federal regulators in late December and has largely remained quiet since then.

Solyndra is one of several "thin film" solar companies in Silicon Valley. The company uses a unique cylindrical panel design made specifically for flat, commercial rooftops. Executives say the lightweight panels are installed in 200 locations around the world, including at a Coca-Cola sales center in Macon, Ga.

Contact Dana Hull at 408-920-2706. Follow her at Twitter.com/danahull.

Solyndra
Founded: May 2005
CEO: Chris Gronet
Investors: Argonaut Private Equity, Redpoint Ventures, Rockport Capital, US Venture Partners and others
Number of employees: 1,000
What it does: Manufactures solar panels using glass tubes filled with a "thin film" of non-silicon semiconductor materials for the commercial rooftop market.