Early signs that Solyndra was in financial distress appeared when the company canceled plans to go public, soon after President Obama visited its headquarters in May 2010. In this July 2010 story, Greenwire explores Solyndra's decision.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A Bay Area solar manufacturer's abrupt retreat last month from an initial public stock offering has analysts questioning President Obama's use of the company as a showcase for federal investments in renewable energy. Solyndra Inc. enjoyed a national spotlight when Obama visited the company's Fremont headquarters in May to herald it as an example of the federal stimulus at work. But the reality is Solyndra has been hemorrhaging cash and decided last month to pull back from an initial public offering (IPO) in favor of raising another $175 million from private investors.
Click through some of the documents that tell Solyndra’s story.
Solyndra’s bankruptcy petition
First lawsuit filing for Solyndra's employees
Solyndra, a solar manufacturer that was given a $535 million loan guarantee and touted by the White House as a model for the clean energy economy, has filed for bankruptcy. E&E examines how it got there and what it means.
After making the $535 million failed loan guarantee a top focus of its oversight efforts in the 112th Congress, it appears that the new year will be Solyndra-less for the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
"We've done that. I don't know that there's more to dig up," committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said yesterday when asked if Solyndra would be back on the panel's agenda in the 113th Congress.
It looks as if Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are aiming to ring in 2013 with a renewed focus on the Department of Energy's controversial loan guarantee program, which provided more than $535 million to the ill-fated Solyndra LLC solar energy company.
Yesterday afternoon, Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and outgoing Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) sent Energy Secretary Steven Chu a letter requesting an update on the financial condition of each of the 26 projects that received loan guarantees through the stimulus-funded Section 1705 program.
For the 12-term lawmaker who saw his national profile reach new heights after he was handed the gavel of the Energy and Commerce Committee's investigations subpanel two years ago, life after Congress appears set to be more about commerce than energy. But Florida Republican Cliff Stearns also took time yesterday to discuss the energy issue for which he'll likely always be associated: his 18-month-long probe of the failed Solyndra LLC solar energy company.
| Chronicling Solyndra’s growth and implosion | |
| Date | Event |
| December 2006 | Solyndra Inc. submits pre-application for DOE loan guarantee. |
| May 2008 | Solyndra submits full application for loan guarantee. DOE begins due diligence. |
| September 2009 | DOE formally issues $535 million loan guarantee to Solyndra. |
| December 2009 | Solyndra files SEC documents to go public. |
| May 2010 | Obama tours Solyndra's Fremont, Calif., headquarters and speaks about renewables' role in economic recovery. |
| June 2010 | Solyndra abandons plan for IPO and opts to raise more cash from private investors. |
| February 2011 | Solyndra receives a $75 million lifeline from investors. DOE becomes a subordinate creditor on the loan. |
| June 2011 | Solyndra lobbies for California bill that would help a small group of local panel makers win state contracts. |
| August 2011 | Solyndra declares bankruptcy. |
| September 2011 | Federal investigation and congressional probe of Solyndra begin. Class-action lawsuits on behalf of more than 1,000 laid-off employees are filed. |
| Last updated September 16, 2011. | |
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