Free Republic

In a year where Solyndra became the face of the solar industry’s chronic failures, even the holiday season could not prevent one last flurry of layoffs in 2011. The Mountain Enterprise (based in Frazier Park, Calif.) reported over the weekend that First Solar, Inc. – which the media sometimes identifies as the largest solar company in the world – laid off half its employees on Friday at its Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One project. The facility has been the subject of controversy in the local community over the effects it will have on land use, wildlife, and water usage....

Happy Monday, Obama administration. According to a new tranche of emails obtained by ABC News, the political wreckage of the Solyndra scandal could get significantly more grisly before all is said and done. In one particularly incriminating note, a staffer at the White House's Office of Management and Budget candidly frets that "bad days" lie ahead : Emails released earlier this month show that at least one official of the Office of Management and Budget worried that Solyndra was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to ill-conceived government loans to green energy companies. “(W)hat’s terrifying is that...

Since Obama’s inauguration in January 2009 there have been several major scandals in which his Administration has been involved, principally, Operation Fast and Furious the government sponsored sale of guns to small time gun sellers along our border with Mexico; the failed ‘Stimulus’ loan of multi-millions to Solyndra and LightSquared, two small businesses that were Obama preferred for loans. All three of these Obama Administration ventures were major failures involving scandalous behavior. ...Is the entire communications arm of our country becoming beholden to Obama and his scandal ridden administration peopled by socialist, communists who break our laws with impunity and...

With a midnight deadline looming, the Energy Department has approved three more loan guarantees for solar energy totaling about $3.5 billion. Energy Secretary Steven Chu says the department has completed a $1.5 billion loan guarantee to Arizona-based First Solar Inc. for a 550-megawatt solar farm on federal land in Southern California and $646 million to Exelon Corp. for a 230-megawatt solar plant near Los Angeles. A third project, worth $1.4 billion, will support installation of about 750 solar rooftop panels in 28 states. snip

Update: The U.S. Department of Energy has just announced it has finalized $2.1 billion in loan guarantees for two First Solar photovoltaic power plant projects in California. And First Solar just announced it has sold the 550-megawatt Desert Sunlight project, which received a $1.46 billion loan guarantee to NextEra Energy Resources and GE Energy Financial Services. This is D-Day for First Solar and other renewable energy developers counting on billions of dollars in federal loan guarantees. In a matter of hours, the deadline for the United States Department of Energy to finalize those loans will pass. And as the clock...

A Daily Caller investigation has found that in addition to the failed company Solyndra, at least four other solar panel manufacturing companies receiving in excess of $500 million in loan guarantees from the Obama administration employ executives or board members who have donated large sums of money to Democratic campaigns. And as questions swirl around possible connections between political donations and these preferential financing arrangements, the Obama White House suddenly began deflecting The Daily Caller’s questions on Wednesday to the Democratic National Committee. Asked Wednesday to comment on the connection between large Democratic donors and Obama administration loan guarantees to...

Silver State North will create hundreds of jobs, power more than 9,000 homes each year September 20, 2011 Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid applauded today the Silver State North Solar Project in Clark County that is currently under construction. Silver State North will create more than 200 construction jobs and additional operations positions while generating state and local tax revenues. When the plant is fully operational in 2012, it will generate enough solar energy to power more than 9,000 Nevada homes each year. "Silver State North is the latest example of a renewable energy project that will create...

The Department of Energy announced Thursday that it has awarded First Solar, America's dominant solar manufacturer, nearly $4.5 billion in conditional loan guarantees to support the construction of three solar power plants in Southern California. With the latest awards, First Solar, headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., has nabbed a third of the $16 billion in loan guarantees the DOE has granted for solar generation to date. In January, First Solar was awarded a nearly $1 billion loan for its 290-megawatt Agua Caliente project in Arizona. First Solar expects the three projects, which should begin delivering electricity in 2014, to create 1,400...

With Egypt tensions boosting oil prices, and some favorable analyst and news reports coming out ahead of earnings, solar energy shares broadly jumped Wednesday. The 25-company Energy-Solar industry group was up 4.7% in early afternoon, leading all 197 industry groups tracked by IBD, after hitting a 12-month high intraday. Energy-Solar is up more than 19% in 2011. Key members of this group that have risen solidly this year include: First Solar 26% (FSLR), Trina Solar 20% (TSL), LDK Solar (LDK) 34%, and Yingli Green Energy (YGE) and GT Solar International (SOLR) , both up 24%. Smaller high performer JinkoSolar Holding...