Hillsboro, Ore.

BEHIND a giant solar factory here, backhoes are digging away, preparing for a new wing that will quintuple production. Inside, an outspoken German executive named Boris Klebensberger is fretting about the color of the new carpet. Samples perch on his window sill alongside floor plans.

Expanding a factory? Picking out carpeting?

Did anyone tell him that there’s a recession?

Buoyed by the potential promise of a green economy, Mr. Klebensberger, who heads the American branch of SolarWorld AG, a company based in Bonn, Germany, is ramping up production of solar cells in a retrofitted factory that had its grand opening last October — in the teeth of the financial crisis.

“Was I worried about our position? No!” says Mr. Klebensberger, dismissing any hint that he was nervous at the opening. And he remains just as bullish today. SolarWorld’s plant here, which makes enough cells to fit 1,700 solar panels a day, is the biggest of its kind in the United States.

For the residents of Hillsboro, and for the Oregon economy, SolarWorld’s presence is a welcome boon. Its employees enjoy being in start-up mode, while others like the cachet of working for a renewable-energy company — which goes down well in outdoorsy Oregon.