Ex-Solyndra Staff To Get $13,000 Each In TAA Federal Aid. The Labor Department today announced that it had approved Trade Adjustment Assistance for the former employees of the bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra.
That means all of the firm’s 1,100 ex-employees are eligible for federal aid packages, including job retraining and income assistance. The department has valued packages at about $13,000 a head. Taxpayers will have to cough up yet another $14.3 million as a result of Solyndra’s bankruptcy. Solyndra Subpoena Rejected By Obama Administration. WASHINGTON -- The White House Counsel's Office has formally rejected a congressional subpoena of documents relating to the $535 million loan guarantee that the administration shepherded for Solyndra, the now-defunct solar energy company.
In a letter to the chairs of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, Kathryn H. Ruemmler, counsel to the president, calls the request for documents made by House Republicans a "vast fishing expedition" and a "significant intrusion on Executive Branch interests. " Blog Archive » Solyndra: The future industry of America! (We hope…) Solyndra bankruptcy may be a total loss for taxpayers - Sep. 30. Solyndra has a building, solar panels and machines to sell.
How much it can get for them is an open question. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- During the weeks of nasty congressional hearings and even nastier columns in the press since solar panel maker Solyndra declared bankruptcy, it's been widely assumed that the debacle cost the government over half a billion dollars. That huge loss may not come to pass. ICB Solar - SOLYNDRA® Solar. FBI Probing Solyndra for Accounting Fraud. Solyndra LLC, the solar-panel maker that filed for bankruptcy protection two months after executives extolled its prospects, is being investigated by the FBI for accounting fraud, an agency official said.
The FBI is examining possible misrepresentations in financial statements submitted to the Energy Department, according to the official, who requested anonymity because the investigation is continuing. Disclosure of the fraud probe is likely to heighten Republican criticism of the Obama administration for its approval of a $535 million U.S. loan guarantee, which the company used to build a $733 million factory in Fremont, California, that opened in January. When construction started, the company said it had a $2 billion backlog in orders for its cylindrical solar modules for commercial rooftops. “The company is not aware of any wrongdoing by Solyndra officers, directors or employees” related to the Energy Department loan guarantees or other actions and “is cooperating fully” with the U.S.
Solyndra Executives To Plead Fifth At Congressional Hearing. Executives with the bankrupt solar energy firm at the heart of a widening federal controversy plan to plead the Fifth when they head to Capitol Hill for a hearing Friday.
A statement Tuesday from California-based Solyndra said CEO Brian Harrison and Chief Financial Officer Bill Stover have informed members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that they will not be able to provide "substantive answers" to lawmakers' questions due to the ongoing Justice Department probe. "Present circumstances require both gentlemen to exercise their Fifth Amendment rights in the face of questioning that might occur," the company said. Republican committee leaders blasted Solyndra executives for "breaking an agreement to voluntarily testify.
" "Who exactly are Solyndra's executive trying to protect and what are they trying to hide? " said Reps. Solyndra Failure May Blunt Obama Energy Drive. Related Solyndra Executives Postpone Congressional Testimon Solyndra LLC’s bankruptcy threatens to curb government incentives championed by the Obama administration to build a renewable energy industry in the U.S. Solyndra, a solar-panel manufacturer that received about $527 million in federal loan guarantees, shut down on Aug. 31, then filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 6. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing tomorrow on the award and the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the company’s Fremont, California, offices two days after the bankruptcy court filing.
The failure will probably diminish support in Washington for the Energy Department’s loan guarantees and for a renewable-energy grant program run by the Treasury Department said Stephen Munro, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in Washington. “Solyndra has become a bit of a poster child for what can go wrong with government funding for renewable energy,” Munro said in an interview. Why Solyndra failed and the DOE loan program is next. Solyndra's bankruptcy announcement this week has ignited a debate over what caused the solar panel startup to collapse.
Take a look at the company's business model and the changing dynamics of the global solar market and it's hard to imagine a different outcome for Solyndra. Solyndra's technology, it's use of unconventional materials, and its tubular design stood out in a sea of flat, solar panels made with silicon. 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. 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.