Why solyndra collapse

Solyndra's was an innovator, for sure. Instead of flat panels, Solyndra sold round tubes with a rolled solar cell that were spaced out to capture more sunlight. Unfortunately, the company's novel technology only made sense when costs of materials were high. And they didn't stay that way for long. Costs dropped precipitously after China's state-run banks handed out billions of dollars in loans to homegrown solar companies including Suntech and Trina Solar. This chart, put together by Ryan Cunningham using compiled news reports from Reuters and Bloomberg, illustrates the inequity between Chinese and U.

A flood of cheap solar panels compounded Solyndra's own cost control problems caused by a need to buy specially-designed manufacturing equipment, not to mention criticism that it used more material than other companies. Solyndra's failure now puts the Department of Energy 's support programs at risk. And that means cleantech start-ups that have struggled to secure financing might lose out too.

After Solyndra closed one of its factories, laid off workers and cancelled its planned public offering, Republicans pounced on the DOE's loan program and its use of stimulus funds. Now that olyndra has bit the dust, the DOE loan guarantee program will be Republican's crosshairs.

This joint statement issued Wednesday from committee chairman Fred Upton and the panel's oversight subcommittee chairman Cliff Stearns is a good indicator of how intense this investigation is about to become. We smelled a rat from the onset.

It is clear that Solyndra was a dubious investment, but the DOE doubled down in March of this year and restructured the loan, possibly further increasing taxpayers' liability. That is a question we want answered. In this time of record debt such disregard for taxpayer dollars cannot be tolerated.

Did the due diligence stop? Did they miss key indicators that could have pointed to issues? Did they misinterpret the data they were seeing? These questions get murkier, thanks to a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service CRS , which now says there were several factors that could have served as warning signs ahead of or shortly after the government investment.

Solyndra, says CRS, was planning to drive down its costs by scaling up its operations with the government backing, but there was no guarantee that it would be successful. Clearly, it was not. Health Care. Monetary Policy. Poverty and Social Welfare. Public Opinion. Tax and Budget Policy. Technology and Privacy. Trade Policy. August 27, PM. By David Boaz. Related Tags.