Free Republic

SoloPower plans to halt operations at its Portland solar panel plant on June 17, company officials alerted the state today. The California-based startup plans to layoff 29 workers, including 10 engineers, as part of the move. It received millions in incentives to build the Portland panel plant, but its launch fell months behind its promised benchmarks. Julian Biggs, the company's chief legal officer, said the decision came as a result of "a significant downturn in business and the need for a major reorganization." The company sent the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act Wednesday to the state. It's unclear when...

The federal government is making another big bet on solar panel manufacturing with taxpayer money, hoping the third time will be the charm. SoloPower held its grand opening Thursday in Portland, Ore., with speeches from local politicians and a ribbon-cutting. "It really revolutionizes rooftop applications, and it makes solar both easy and cost effective for nearly any commercial and industrial building worldwide," CEO Tim Harris said. SoloPower closed on a guaranteed government loan of $197 million last August, about the time another solar panel manufacturer, Solyndra, filed for bankruptcy. The failure of Solyndra cost U.S. taxpayers more than a half-billion...

LOS ANGELES -- A tiny San Jose solar company named SoloPower will flip the switch on production at a U.S. factory Thursday, a major step toward allowing it to tap a $197 million government loan guarantee awarded under the same controversial program that supported failed panel maker Solyndra. SoloPower has initiated a strategy to differentiate it from struggling commodity players in the solar panel industry. Still, there are several similarities between SoloPower and Fremont-based Solyndra -- which became a lightning rod in the U.S. Presidential campaign this year after taking in more than $500 million in government loans and then...

San Jose-based SoloPower announced Thursday that it is expanding -- to Oregon. The company, which makes thin-film solar cells and modules, has chosen Wilsonville, south of Portland, as the site for its new manufacturing plant. The start-up got a $20 million loan through Oregon's State Energy Loan Program, which also was announced Thursday. "The intention was always to have corporate here in Silicon Valley, and research and development here," said Peter Kesser, SoloPower's senior vice president for sales and marketing, in an interview. "But when we looked at scaling up, we looked at a number of areas, both here in...