Solyndra

When its new solar panel factory in Portland, Oregon, opened for operation last week, Solopower, based in San Jose, California, qualified for a $197 million government loan guarantee.

There was a clever headline in the satirical newspaper The Onion last week that wouldn’t be so humorous if it wasn’t true.  “300 Million Without Electricity In India After Restoration Of Power Grid,” the headline read.

Konarka Technologies, a developer of thin-film solar panels, has filed for bankruptcy and will begin to liquidate its assets immediately.

For the solar energy industry, it seems like the bad news just keeps on coming.

Fisker Automotive, the vehicle manufacturer which took the clean transportation world by storm in 2009 when it announced the debut of its Karma model plug in hybrid vehicle, has announced its intention to renegotiate the terms of its $528.7 million conditional loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE.

Once an after-thought in solar development, the latest data shows the Asia-Pacific region is becoming the industry's biggest market for photovoltaic solar power.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu took full responsibility for the $535 million loan guarantee to failed solar manufacturer Solyndra and the decisions relating to it in Capitol Hill testimony this week.

In another episode that seems to highlight the difficulties surrounding the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) allocation of loan and grant programs for renewable energy and energy efficiency, the city of Flint, Michigan just had its $1.1-million efficiency grant suspended for what the DOE is calling "serious mismanagement and misuse." 

Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have introduced legislation aimed at extending the Production Tax Credit, or PTC. 

Despite a political firestorm resulting in a dark cloud being cast over the federal government's backing of renewable energy projects in the aftermath of the fall of now bankrupt Solyndra, Inc. and Beacon Power, once high-flying cleantech companies that received federal loan guarantees, Washington is still moving ahead with plans to develop renewables—particularly, offshore wind power.