HOUSTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp Chief Executive Mike Wirth said on Wednesday the company prefers to return money to its shareholders rather than use it to invest in solar and wind power projects.

The two renewable sources of energy generate low financial return for stockholders, Wirth said in an interview on CNBC. Investors could use dividend payments from Chevron instead to invest directly in renewable projects, he added.

"We rather dividend it back to shareholders and let them plant trees," Chevron's chief said. (Reporting by Sabrina Valle and Liz Hampton; Editing by Chris Reese and Peter Cooney)