Posted on 08/31/2011 7:04:47 PM PDT by tobyhill
A California solar-panel manufacturer once touted by President Barack Obama as a beneficiary of his administration's economic policies — as well as a half-billion-dollar federal loan — is laying off 1,100 workers and filing for bankruptcy.
Solyndra LLC of Fremont, Calif., had become the poster child for government investment in green technology. The president visited the company in May 2010 and noted that Solyndra expected to hire 1,000 workers to manufacture solar panels. Other state and federal officials such as former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Energy Secretary Steven Chu also visited the company's facilities.
But hard times have hit the nation's solar industry. Solyndra is the third solar company to seek bankruptcy protection this month. Officials said Wednesday that the global economy as well as unfavorable conditions in the solar industry combined to force the company to suspend its manufacturing operations.
The price for solar panels has tanked in part because of heavy competition from Chinese companies, dropping by about 42 percent this year.
Republicans have been looking into the Solyndra loan for months. The House Energy and Commerce Committee subpoenaed documents relating to the loan from the White House Office of Management and Budget. GOP Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan and Cliff Stearns of Florida issued a joint statement on Wednesday saying it was clear that Solyndra was a dubious investment.
"We smelled a rat from the onset," the two lawmakers said.
Shortly after the company's announcement, it became clear that the bankruptcy would serve as further ammunition to criticize an economic stimulus bill that provided seed money for solar startups — even though officials said interest in providing Solyndra with guaranteed government loans was first sought under the Bush administration.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Well CA liberals kicked out Toyota manufacturing plant from Freemont and brought this junk as replacement.
After 40,000 job loss add another 1100.
Lets Congratulate CA liberals and environmentalist.
Oops, too many martinis.
That’s “know”, not “no”.
But what the heck?
Even with that faux pas, I’m still quantum levels above the Cretin-in-Chief.
It should be noted that in addition to directly subsidizing the manufacturer they are still giving away state money and federal tax credits for installing solar. With all that they still went belly up. The same has happened to the ethanol industry and windmills aren’t far behind. A waste of money and our taxes.
It should be noted that in addition to directly subsidizing the manufacturer they are still giving away state money and federal tax credits for installing solar. With all that they still went belly up. The same has happened to the ethanol industry and windmills aren’t far behind. A waste of money and our taxes.
Why build solar or wind when you must have a coal, gas, or nuclear plant as a backup for when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine (except in progressive fantasies). You can spin it a hundred different ways, but you come back to this same basic fact ... the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine.
So long as we let the Chinese subsidize their exports by currency manipulation, we'll never get this economy going or get any jobs back.
Innovation is dead too. The Chinese just take what technology they need. MFN for China was one of the worst decisions ever.
“Not before they used up 700 million or so of OUR money.”
Exactly. Where did the money go? A little accounting is in order.
Here in Texas we believe in drilling.
I understand you have a large number of whirlygigs out there in Texas, and that they are not doing you much good.
Oh, please. "Global economy," my eye. If they had a product people actually wanted to buy, the "global economy" wouldn't matter.
But not in Washington. And it stands to reason that OPEC finances their way of thinking. It is like the relationship between junkies and heroin dealers. Its does not take rocket science to determine who call the shots.
Yea the windmills are being pushed by some very big money wanting to use our money. As for solar unless someone is ready to do some serious sacrificing and conservation in their power consumption they are in for some disappointment. Especially if they are installing solar to replace utility services. BTW I've also noticed government seems to be the biggest buyer of panels these days.
Will boner and the republicans ever decide to do some work and investigate this crap and see who got the money.
you be correct, I decided to Solar Power my well on some property I own because it would cost around 15k to run power up my mountain, I did it for 6k going Solar, now the House has real electricity.
I would make as many things in the home as non electric as I could. Stove, oven, hot water heater, I would go gas. If you use solar for heating water I would have gas as a back up. I would also get a 4200 watt generator. I have a friend with solar in a fairly remote area. A year or two ago I wired in a 12 volt freezer for him. The solar basically powers lights, freezer, fridge, TV and that's about it. The heat is wood stove the hot water and range is gas. He also has a generator for bad weather or breakdowns.
In East Tennessee anyone using solar alone is going to be in a world of hurt unless they live out in the middle of a field on top of a high ridge. To give you some idea a green Wally World was built nearby using sky lights as the primary lighting for daytime. It's like being in a room with someone flipping the lights off and on.
I have a friend that works in the solar industry in CA. Obviously if you can’t get electrical power in a remote area you have to do something. He said solar on-the-grid only made financial sense in the expensive markets in CA with the current energy prices and state and federal subsidies. You are still breaking even at the end of the life for those solar panels. In areas of California that produce their own power solar is way more expensive.
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