Solyndra was just the appetizer

''Earlier today, in what will come as a surprise only to members of the administration, the company which proudly held the rights to the world's largest solar power project, the hilariously named Solar Trust of America ("STA"), filed for bankruptcy.

And while one could say that the company's epic collapse is more a function of alternative energy politics in Germany, where its 70% parent Solar Millennium AG filed for bankruptcy last December, what is relevant is that last April STA was the proud recipient of a $2.1 billion conditional loan from the Department of Energy, incidentally the second largest loan ever handed out by the DOE's Stephen Chu.'

http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2012/04_-_April/Sol…

11 Comments
 
AmphipathicI wonder if the Chinese technocrats would be stupid enough to make loans like this.

Obama is busy winning the future for us, that's the only thing that matters

 
AmphipathicI wonder if the Chinese technocrats would be stupid enough to make loans like this.
Haha cot damn you are so unaware of how easily some of those mega chinese banks dispense credit. It's all relationships bro, due diligence not required.
 
NewGuy
AmphipathicI wonder if the Chinese technocrats would be stupid enough to make loans like this.
Haha cot damn you are so unaware of how easily some of those mega chinese banks dispense credit. It's all relationships bro, due diligence not required.

Never mind the massive subsidies the Chinese government handouts to promote its businesses.

 

gotta hate these solar stocks... thank god q cells filed for bankruptcy. guessing there may be others to come: solar world and sma solar. note that we have seen three pretty high-profile bankruptcies in germany ytd: schlecker (private - drugstore/retail), €6,55 bln in sales (2010) and of course q cells (solar equip. - €1,35 bln in sales). along with pfleiderer (building materials - €1,5 bln in sales)

 

I guess if Solyndra was the appetizer, Solar Trust of America is the main course. So what do these bankruptcies mean? Does solar energy need more seasoning before it becomes a viable energy alternative? Or is solar energy ready right now, but the companies are flawed? In either case, the Obama administration seems to be more seduced by its ideology than by the facts.

Howard Schwartz See my WSO blog
 
Best Response
hdavid57I guess if Solyndra was the appetizer, Solar Trust of America is the main course. So what do these bankruptcies mean? Does solar energy need more seasoning before it becomes a viable energy alternative? Or is solar energy ready right now, but the companies are flawed? In either case, the Obama administration seems to be more seduced by its ideology than by the facts.

As the poster above said, it's just not economical at this point in time. If the government has to offer subsidies for people to buy it or loans to support a company to produce it, then the technology and/or manufacturing process generally isn't economical enough for mass consumption or private production.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

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