Solar power companies are racing to finish projects and are looking to overseas markets as the deadline for federal solar-power tax credits draws closer.

When the tax credits expire Dec. 31, small solar power installation companies could be hit the hardest because they depend on new business in their local markets. But even large companies are scrambling to finish as many projects as they can this year.

“We’re horrified,” said Sue Kateley, executive director of the California Solar Energy Industries Association. “I’ve stopped betting on it.”

But some industry executives are counting on the extension.

“We believe Congress will do the right thing and extend the tax credit,” said Phil Rettger, executive vice president of Hayward-based OptiSolar Inc., which is building a solar-panel manufacturing plant in McClellan Park. “There’s a history of waiting until the last minute and then extending the tax credit.”

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