NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- SunPower Corp.'s (SPWRA) recent decision to step into the solar-financing market points to the distance that top-tier panel makers may go to help buoy their sales and maintain a market for their panels in a slumping industry.

On Thursday, during its conference call to discuss fourth-quarter results, SunPower said it would use its balance sheet to help finance solar projects developed through its recent acquisition of SunRay Renewable Energy Ltd.

The action marks a change in strategy for the U.S.-based solar panel maker, which last year said it wouldn't follow thin-film panel maker First Solar Inc.'s (FSLR) short-term investments in two solar projects with any financing moves of its own.

"We're not a bank," SunPower Chief Financial Officer Dennis Arriola said last March, citing the stress any equity investments would put on the company's balance sheet.

Since then, much has changed. SunPower's available cash has grown to $616 million from $220 million last year, putting it in a better financial position to support some projects until they can be sold to investors. Meanwhile, panel prices keep dropping, adding pressure to SunPower's profits and the premium it fetches for its higher-efficiency panels.

Shares of SunPower fell 15% Friday because of disappointing fourth-quarter results and 2010 outlook. Wall Street's strong reaction indicates how investors will react if financing arrangements can't help boost profits, and if the higher costs related to project development continue.

SunPower Chief Executive Tom Werner said that by making an equity investment in solar projects, SunPower will be able to sell fully-developed projects for a higher return than selling early in the process.

"There is risk associated with that, but with risk comes reward," he said. "SunRay gives us that capability to make that decision."

While this is the first move by SunPower to finance projects, the company has been lauded for its aggressive moves to create links with customers. SunPower has built a massive network of dealers selling solar systems to consumers and businesses. And SunRay offers closer ties to utility-scale projects in that market regardless of whether SunPower puts its balance sheet to use.

Kevin Landis, manager of Firsthand Funds, which holds SunPower shares, said it can be tough to watch companies jump into downstream markets. As an investor, it can "make you cringe," he said.

But with the fragmented market in solar-project development, sometimes, "You have to do what you have to do," to keep projects, and the resulting sales, moving forward.

"Relative to the other solar players, you'd still rather be in SunPower shares," he said.

SunPower's position as a top supplier gives it a unique opportunity to move into these downstream markets, but keeping costs down and maintaining a strong balance sheet as it begins to finance projects will keep investors' attention, particularly due to the tentative moves of others.

First Solar head of investor relations Larry Polizzotto said the company isn't planning to build a business around financing projects but saw its two investments as keeping projects on track.

"It was more of an opportunistic thing," he said, adding that one of the short-term investments, for $48 million, is expected to provide a 7% return when it is repaid in May.

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