Among the tents and booths set up within the Solar Power International conference, which kicked off Oct. 12, there’s a surprising presence: LG Electronics, not known in North American circles as a solar company—in fact, you may even be reading this on one of the company’s smartphones.

But LG has been in the solar industry overseas for years, primarily in Korea, where it operates a 14 megawatt solar farm amongst other projects, and in Europe. And Geoff Slevin, vice president of LG’s newly created Solar Division North America, has a message for the United States: We’re coming home.

On Oct. 12, LG announced its entrance into the North American solar market, a move that Slevin said was natural for the company.

“The fact is that a lot of the game in solar is going to be played in The U.S.,” said Slevin from the floor of the SPI conference. “LG is building a very strong consumer brand, looking at the success it had in solar in other markets, and this seems like a logical step.”

Logical, yes, but a few years ago, the United States barely had a solar industry.

“We were joking that, about 2004 or 2005, we were at the Solar Power International conference. It was in the basement of the Washington Hilton,” said Slevin. “It looked like a high school science fair.”

Those were the first years of SPI’s annual event, and attendance was around 1,000. Last year it was a little over 24,000, and this year, it’s expected to grow even more.

Slevin and the rest of the LG crew on hand at the event have a busy few days ahead of them.

“We’re here all week,” said Slevin. “We’re exhibiting at a booth and highlighting the market.”

LG will concentrate its efforts into solar hardware for the U.S. market. And plants, like the one in Korea, aren’t necessarily part of the short-term goals for the company’s new division.

“For our initial launch, we’re going to be a module supplier, and we’ll make the product in factories in Korea,” said Slevin. “We haven’t announced to the public anything beyond that yet.”

The U.S. solar industry has seen exciting gains this year, and Slevin said the company will most likely grow to fill future solar needs as they sprout up.

But in light of the industry’s impressive growth, Slevin cited another feature of the marketplace: it’s actually becoming competitive now.

“I think it has existed in the past, the mentality that a win for a solar company is a win for the solar industry. But I think that is starting to change,” said Slevin. “Now, consumers are gaining brand preference, and I think that old mentality is gone.”

After Slevin and the LG representatives are done at SPI, there’s still plenty on their plates.

“We’re finalizing our customer slate for next year. It’s not about next year’s sales. It’s about building the right infrastructure,” said Slevin. “It’s not just us showing up with a product anymore. It’s us showing up with a strong balance sheet. We’re one of the companies that can take the risk out of solar.”

Pictured: LG's booth at the 2010 Solar Power International conference. Not quite a basement anymore.