Solyndra Round-up

News that California solar company Solyndra will be declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy has sent waves through the energy blogosphere, not least because the company was an early recipient of a DOE loan guarantee and because President Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu both touted Solyndra as a success story in US innovation policy.

• TIME Magazine's Dan Grunwald: Solyndra’s version did have certain advantages, particularly ease of installation. And according to the Energy Department, the company sold more than 1,000 installations in 20 countries, increasing its sales revenue 2,000% in three years. But they couldn’t keep up with the competition on cost.

• Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig at WaPo: GAO auditors fear that similar defaults could happen with other projects, possibly including the other four that it found weren’t properly vetted. The GAO last year uncovered the department’s rush to provide Solyndra its loan — less than 60 days after Chu was sworn in to the fledgling administration — without completing required reviews.

• Arno Harris at the Energy Collective: Bottom line, I'm sad to see Solyndra fail and feel immense sympathy for the 1,100 employees who are now out of work. But in the bigger picture, Solyndra's failure underscores just how successful the PV industry has been at cost reduction--and highlights the risks when governments try to pick winners and losers in highly competitive markets.

• Slate's Andrew Leonard: So what's really happened here is that half-hearted industrial policy lost out to the real deal. Because if Solyndra's failure is taken as proof that the U.S. government can't pick winners, doesn't that mean that China's success proves the exact opposite?

• Mike Traugher at Mercury News: Solyndra also reportedly received more than $1 billion in venture capital over the past five years from firms including Redpoint Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners. Other reported investors included Virgin Group entrepreneur Richard Branson and the Walton family, heirs to the Walmart fortune.

UPDATE (9/6/2011 at 10:05am): 

• Michael Grunwald at TIME: The operation was successful, but the patient died. Politically, it’s probably an impossible case to make. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. 

• Bloomberg Analysis: Solyndra said it failed because it couldn’t compete with foreign manufacturers funded by their governments. Those factories produced an oversupply of panels at low prices and offered buyers lengthy payment terms. Demand for Solyndra’s panels also fell as European governments reduced incentives for buying solar energy, said W.G. Stover, chief financial officer, in a filing today.