Who is solyndra

Solyndra was the first company to receive a loan guarantee under either program. The stimulus bill that funded Solyndra received no Republican votes in the House and only three in the Senate — including Sen. Arlen Specter, who later switched parties. The House passed the conference bill , and 31 Republicans opposed it.

The Senate passed it , with six Republicans voting no. Now one industry expert says he's not sure any lessons have been learned in the years since. Solyndra used the money, along with hundreds-of-millions more from private investors, to build a new facility where it would be mass-producing its easy-to-install cylindrical solar "panels.

The ill-fated energy company had initially asked President George Bush for cash under the loan guarantee program, which was created to help companies working with clean energy technologies that might be considered too risky for private investors. But it wasn't until President Obama launched his sweeping stimulus spending plan that Solyndra's application was approved, launching the California company to poster-child status despite what were apparently growing concerns about its long-term and even short-term viability.

Those concerns were reportedly being relayed to the White House in the run-up to President Obama's highly publicized visit to Solyndra headquarters, which was scheduled just six months before the midterm elections.

Congressional investigators later uncovered information indicating that Solyndra was planning on laying off some of its employees ahead of the midterms, but waited due to pressure from the White House.

The Solyndra loan request was filed during the Bush administration, and the Bush administration had already moved forward on issuing money to Solyndra, those officials said.

The implication is that they did so for political reasons, as the administration was rushing to promote green stimulus spending. Why It Matters: Republicans have thrown into question the motivation behind and execution of the government's green stimulus spending, at a time when President Obama's poll numbers are sagging as he struggles to improve the economy. Early in his presidency, he promised green spending as a measure to alleviate unemployment and improve America's infrastructure.

What follows are my remarks, as I have prepared them for delivery:. In the coming decades, the clean energy sector is expected to grow by hundreds of billions of dollars. We are in a fierce global race to capture this market. Germany and Canada operate government-backed clean energy lending programs, and more than 50 countries offer some type of public financing for clean energy projects.

In the United States, Congress established the Section and loan guarantee programs as well as the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program — all of which provide support to cutting-edge clean energy industries that involve technology and market risks.

We appreciate the support the loan programs have received from many members of Congress — including nearly letters to the Department — who have urged us to accelerate our efforts and to fund worthy projects in their states. Through the loan programs, the Energy Department is supporting 38 clean energy projects that are expected to employ more than 60, Americans, generate enough clean electricity to power nearly 3 million homes and displace more than million gallons of gasoline annually.

These important investments are helping to make America more competitive in the global clean energy economy. Today, we are here to specifically discuss the Solyndra loan guarantee.

The Department takes our obligation to the taxpayer seriously, and welcomes the opportunity to discuss this matter. As this extensive record has made clear, the loan guarantee to Solyndra was subject to proper, rigorous scrutiny and healthy debate during every phase of the process.

As the Secretary of Energy, the final decisions on Solyndra were mine, and I made them with the best interest of the taxpayer in mind. My decision to guarantee a loan to Solyndra was based on the analysis of experienced professionals and on the strength of the information they had available to them at the time.

The Solyndra transaction went through more than two years of rigorous technical, financial and legal due diligence, spanning two Administrations, before a loan guarantee was issued. It is common for it to take some time for start-up companies, especially manufacturing companies, to turn a profit.

And in the two years since the Department issued the loan guarantee, Solyndra faced deteriorating market conditions. Solar PV production has expanded at the same time that demand has softened due to the global economic downturn and a decline in subsidies in countries including Spain, Italy and Germany. The result has been an acute drop in the price of solar cells, which has taken a toll on many solar companies in Europe, Asia and the United States.

Meanwhile, countries like China are playing to win in the solar industry. China has invested aggressively to support its companies, and in recent years, China has seen its market share in solar cell and solar module production grow significantly, to roughly half the market today.

Facing a liquidity crisis near the end of , Solyndra informed us that it needed emergency financing from its existing investors to complete scale-up of its operations and reach profitability. The Department faced a difficult decision: force the company into immediate bankruptcy or restructure the loan guarantee to allow the company to accept emergency financing that would be paid back first if the company was still unable to recover.

Immediate bankruptcy meant a percent certainty of default, with an unfinished plant as collateral. Restructuring improved the chance of recovering taxpayer money by giving the company a fighting chance at success, with a completed plant as collateral. I approved restructuring of the loan guarantee to give the taxpayers the best chance at recovery.