Solar company that got federal loan shuts down (BANKRUPT!)

msnbc ^ | 8/31/2011 | KEVIN FREKING, JASON DEAREN/AP

[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.

[Redcitizen]

” even though officials said interest in providing Solyndra with guaranteed government loans was first sought under the Bush administration. “

In other words... Bush’s fault.

[Track9]

Not before they used up 700 million or so of OUR money. And I’m sure any good accounting of their books would make your head explode. Where did all the luxury cars go.. the expense accounts.. the toys..?

[tobyhill]

They may have “first sought” a loan under Bush but it was “first given” by Obama.

[Hugin]

The price for solar panels has tanked in part because of heavy competition from Chinese companies...

How unexpected.

[rovenstinez]

I wonder if the company would have organized in Texas if it would have fared much better_

[ltc8k6]

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/08/green-jobs-up-in-smoke.php

[SMGFan]

Is Barack Obama dumb? Yes!

[truthguy]

Solar and Wind Energy are not the answer to our major energy needs. In some limited circumstances Solar and Wind might provide a small amount of energy, say something in the order of 3-5%. But for baseline energy you can forget about it.

If solar and wind were so great the engineers at the power companies would have been pushing it for a long time. They haven't because being good engineers, they knew it wouldn't work or wouldn't work very well. These people know a hell of a lot more about electrical energy than politicians and green energy advocates. They are also a lot smarter.

Jerry Brown (the Clown) was just at an alternative energy meeting in Nevada sponsored by the fool Harry Reid. They haven't given up on the dream and they don't care if they bankrupt the state of California, the state of Nevada, and the United States in their foolish pursuit of this energy fantasy. The California Legislature (a house of fools) just past laws requiring that utilities use 33% renewable by 2020. Unless California decides to start building damns soon they either will never be able to meet this requirement OR energy in California will be fantastically expensive and will damage an already weak economy.

The problem in California is Californians.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;q=quick;s=solar

[Huskrrrr]

Another large empty barn in Fremont.

[TheBigIf]

Well considering that democrats claim that we just didnt spend enough tax payer dollars with stimulus yet to see the economic success then maybe the democrats should take the stand to give Solyndra more. Lets see the dems follow their own logic through on this one.

Maybe another 700 million?

[truthguy]

I wonder if the company would have organized in Texas if it would have fared much better

Not really. The laws of physics apply in Texas just as they do in California. Solyndra's technology didn't work or more accurately the price of energy produced by their technology (even with government subsidies) was hideously expensive. Their technology just didn't cut it. Simple as that.

[tobyhill]

Same thing would have happened in Texas because it's a dead end business regardless what state it's in.

Here in Texas we believe in drilling.

[erkyl]

I wonder if the company would have organized in Texas if it would have fared much better_

Well, the tax laws and regulatory climate here would have been more favorable, but I doubt they would have sold any more solar panels. Probably never really made any to begin with, since they had all that 'seed' money from "Obama's stash" and just doled it out amongst those Obama donors who were looking for their election payback. It's really hard to make a profit when you spend all the seed money on payoffs and the product never really gets manufactured. At least that's what I suspect happened.

[Inwoodian]

If and when this all shakes out there will be hundreds or thousands of criminal enterprises masquerading as businesses that will be shown to have plundered the public fisc in the name of good government. Man is not perfectable.

[cva66snipe]

That's true but with the environmentalist nutcases logic, common sense, and basic understanding of electrical theories and laws goes out the window. They remind me of persons who think you can start a generator in motion then have it power a motor to keep the generator turning.

Cost alone makes solar power prohibitive in most cases. In some cases it is cheaper than paying for electric utilities but not often. A mountain cabin a mile from nearest powerline would be such an example.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Same thing would have happened in Texas because it’s a dead end business regardless what state it’s in.”

I agree,but it would have taken longer. I’ve seen reports that it is 30% more expensive to produce in California due to regulations.

[oyez]

Solar and Wind power is so appealing because they trumped it up as something from nothing. The logical route is to look deeper, like the core of the earth.

[Da Coyote]

Liberals no nothing about science, and even less about business.

Math is not only not their friend, math is a language far beyond their meager ability to comprehend.

From Marx on, their legacy is one of all-consuming failure.

As in “massive fail’.

And they are the ones claiming “intelligence”.

Heh!