Firm (First Solar) sells solar panels - to itself, taxpayers pay

Washington Examiner ^ | 3/18/2012 | Timothy P carney

[PhxRising]

A heavily subsidized solar company received a U.S. taxpayer loan guarantee to sell solar panels to itself.

First Solar is the company. The subsidy came from the Export-Import Bank, which President Obama and Harry Reid are currently fighting to extend and expand. The underlying issue is how Obama's insistence on green-energy subsidies and export subsidies manifests itself as rank corporate welfare.

Here's the road of subsidies these solar panels followed from Perrysburg, Ohio, to St. Clair, Ontario.

First Solar is an Arizona-based manufacturer of solar panels. In 2010, the Obama administration awarded the company $16.3 million to expand its factory in Ohio -- a subsidy Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland touted in his failed re-election bid that year.

Five weeks before the 2010 election, Strickland announced more than a million dollars in job training grants to First Solar. The Ohio Department of Development also lent First Solar $5 million, and the state's Air Quality Development Authority gave the company an additional $10 million loan.

After First Solar pocketed this $17.3 million in government grants and $15 million in government loans, Ex-Im entered the scene.

In September 2011, Ex-Im approved $455.7 million in loan guarantees to subsidize the sale of solar panels to two solar farms in Canada. That means if the solar farm ever defaults, the taxpayers pick up the tab, ensuring First Solar gets paid.

But the buyer, in this case, was First Solar.

[PhxRising]

Will First Solar follow Solyndra?

[RGF]

Funny they should mention Enron and Venezuela. I was in Venezuela on a BP project and noticed a map with all the projects PDVSA was involved with. I saw our project and looked at all the others.

I noticed one with ENRON and also something else. All the other projects listed the participants and the players respective share of the projects and they all totaled 100% as you would expect.......except the ENRON project. I’m sure it was a typo but you could add all the participants and the total % got to 110%. I should have had a camera.

[BitWielder1]

Not only are they corrupt, they are also careless idiots.
First Solar, Solyndra and whatever other solar panel firms are still out there should have sold panels to EACH OTHER, and the scam could have gone on for much longer.

Which probably is happening already.

[peeps36]

It aggravates me when the corrupt media ignores the corrupt politicians it helped put in office. These people would be in prison in a country that wasn’t controlled by scumbags. I keep waiting for the American people to wake up but it seems nothing can jolt them awake.

[BfloGuy]

And now that Chinese solar panels will be tariffed, First Solar can raise its price on itself! Bring in more revenue to pay back the loan [wink, wink.]

[ExCTCitizen]

A heavily subsidized solar company received a U.S. taxpayer loan guarantee to sell solar panels to itself.

hey that is a great way of showing SHAREHOLDERS you are selling widgets, sell it to yourself. /s