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Solar module maker SolarWorld has done well in U.S. island territories despite competition from cheap photovoltaics from China and Taiwan and its faltering stock prices.

Last week, I reported about how the German company, which has a large plant in Hillsboro, has been approached with take-over and merger offers. 聽Despite these offers and the trend of lower prices for solar modules (subscription required), SolarWorld unveiled today a 150-kilowatt, 1,600-foot-long solar panel array in the U.S. Territory of St. Thomas.

Thanks in part to federal subsidy programs to support American solar products, solar is popping up in other islands as well. American Samoa will soon have 17 solar equipped buildings that will generate 350 killowatts, which will help the island territory with high electricity costs due to a dependence on oil imports.

According to a by SolarWorld, American Samoa has already installed a 680-kilowatt system on 24 buildings using funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

鈥淲e get approached by Taiwan and Korea to buy their products because they’re just around the corner, but it’s very important to us to support the U.S. economy,鈥� said Scott Hagen of Pacific Solar and Photovoltaic, the installer of the solar panels in American Samoa.