With an aim to increase its share in the growing US market for solar power, Yingli Green Energy Holding Co - the Chinese solar panel maker -last week announced the opening of two offices - in New York and San Francisco.

Furthermore, Yingli is working tie-ups with US solar project developers, like San Francisco-based Recurrent Energy and AES Solar - a joint venture between power producer AES Corp and private equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC.

Robert Petrina, Managing Director of Yingli's fledgling US business - Yingli Green Energy Americas - said that the company is keeping its 6-8 percent European market share as a "goal" for the US market. Talking about the US expansion prospects, Petrina pointed to the increased debt financing from banks in recent weeks, in response to the exceedingly attractive returns on solar projects.

Referring to Obama administration's recent guidelines pertaining to $3 billion in government grants for companies engaged in renewable energy projects, Petrina said: "Things have improved markedly in the last six weeks."

Along with talking about the evident change in the market for commercial solar projects, Petrina also noted that residential sales of solar panels have remained "rather robust" even amid the recession.

However, Petrina refused to comment on Yingli's likely plans of setting up a manufacturing facility in the US, saying that such a move cannot be discussed "until it's a done deal."