DETROIT (AP) - The thin solar energy panels being made across the street from the home of the Detroit Pistons are a booming part of Energy Conversion Devices Inc.'s alternative energy business.

The company's United Solar Ovonic plant in Auburn Hills will get a visit from President Bush today as part of his two-day, three-state trip to discuss a package of energy initiatives highlighted in last month's State of the Union address.

Bush's top Cabinet officials also plan to crisscross the country this week to tout the initiatives.

"We're investing in technologies like solar and wind power and clean coal to power our homes and businesses.

We're also investing in new car technologies like plug-in hybrid cars and in alternative fuels for automobiles like ethanol and biodiesel," Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address.

In his 2007 budget proposal for the Department of Energy, Bush called for a 70 percent increase to $298 million for research into alternative fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel as well as solar power. He's expected to focus on the development of clean electric power sources in Auburn Hills.

Energy Conversion Devices has joint ventures making nickel metal hydride batteries for hybrid vehicles and researchers working on developing pollution-free hydrogen fuel cells. And while the Detroit area is known as the home of the U.S. automotive industry, companies like Energy Conversion Devices have worked to bring innovation inside and outside of the carmaking business.

"They're really a prime example in the state of what can happen when you do utilize the manufacturing talent and the R&D and engineering talent," said James Croce, chief executive of NextEnergy, a nonprofit that was founded to bolster the state's alternative energy technology industry.

"It shows that we're a high-tech region and not just a high-tech auto region," Croce added.

The solar panel plant is about 30 miles north of Detroit in the same city that is home to DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group.

Today's visit isn't the first time United Solar Ovonic - also known as Uni-Solar - has drawn the attention of the Bush administration.

"Companies like Uni-Solar are showing how we can harness science and technology in innovative ways to become global leaders in a new and growing industry," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said at a July groundbreaking for an expansion that will double Uni-Solar's production capacity.

Energy Conversion Devices declined to comment on Bush's visit. But during an afternoon tour of the plant, Bush likely will see the centerpiece of the facility: Uni-Solar's 100-yard-long machine that transforms stainless steel into solar sheets.

The current plant makes enough solar sheets in a year to generate about 25 megawatts of electric power.

The Uni-Solar expansion is under construction nearby, and Energy Conversion Devices announced last week that it planned a further increase in capacity to 300 megawatts by 2010.

Unlike conventional solar panels that use heavy, stiff glass, the sheets made at the plant are thin, light and pliable.

They can be used to replace normal roof shingles and generate electric power from the sun.

In addition to alternative energy, Rochester Hills-based Energy Conversion Devices also is working on information technology applications.

"Transforming our energy supply will demand creativity and determination, and America has these qualities in abundance," Bush said Saturday. "Our nation will continue to lead the world in innovation and technology."

The visit is Bush's fourth to the state since the 2004 election.

Early last year, Bush presented his second-term plans for the economy and Social Security during a speech to the Detroit Economic Club and advocated asbestos lawsuit reform in a visit to Macomb County's Clinton Township.

In May, he gave the commencement speech at Calvin College in Grand Rapids.

Meanwhile, six Cabinet officers are scheduled to appear at more than two dozen energy-related events in more than a dozen states over the week.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta will be in the Detroit area Wednesday, with a stop at the Livonia headquarters of auto supplier TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. to discuss Bush's energy plans.

Mineta also will tour TRW's automotive engineering center and see new hybrid technologies being developed at the site.