GlobalWatt Sells Someone Else’s Solar Panels – on eBay

Michigan Capitol Confidential ^ | 12/9/2010 | Kathy Hoekstra

[MichCapCon]

Just in time to brighten the holidays, GlobalWatt, a Saginaw-based solar panel manufacturer, is selling five solar panels on the popular auction website, eBay. But GlobalWatt did not make the panels. A company in India did.

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy first raised questions about GlobalWatt in September. The Center's Kathy Hoekstra and Mike LaFaive discovered claims made by GlobalWatt on its application for state tax credits were misleading or simply not true (making false claims on such an application is a felony). Those tax credits were contingent upon GlobalWatt following through on promises of job creation. A November 22 report by a local TV station discovered those jobs have not yet come to fruition. In fact, the report said only 17 people work at GlobalWatt, "mostly in sales, marketing and fundraising," with conflicting figures about the number of manufacturing jobs. The company's CEO said there were seven or eight people in manufacturing. The community college that trained these workers told the TV station GlobalWatt only hired one person...

[Invictus]

Fraud....in Government???? Why does this not surprise me???

[Nervous Tick]

This is probably much ado about nothing.

If they’re selling only five panels, they were probably using them internally for testing and evaluation of a competitor. That sort of thing is done all the time in real businesses.

Hyperventilating over stupid stuff like this is dangerious because it detracts from the REAL VALID questions:

** can the company actually make a product of its own?
** where are its subsidies going?
** where are the jobs it promised to create?

— but insinuating that the company is a front for an Indian solar panel maker is hysterical and unproductive.

[Yo-Yo]

Here's the eBay listing. Judge for yourself. It sure looks to me as if they're branding them as GlobalWatt product.

[Nervous Tick]

Well, thanks for enlightening me.

They do look like GlobalWatt panels.

I take back my earlier comment.

[bigbob]

The billions that are pissed away annually under the guise of “economic devleopment” is a staggering figure.

[SunkenCiv]

GlobalWatt did not make the panels. A company in India did.

Thanks MichCapCon.

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