INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY ... - PHOTON Info
INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY ... - PHOTON Info
INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY ... - PHOTON Info
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Solyndra, Inc. (2)<br />
46<br />
Business<br />
Serious money for<br />
oddly shaped modules<br />
In 2008 Fremont-based Solyndra<br />
launched production of cylindrical<br />
shaped thin-film modules. Now the<br />
Department of Energy (DOE) finalized<br />
a $535 million loan guarantee – the<br />
agency’s first since the 1980s – to<br />
finance Solyndra’s new production<br />
facility, which will have a capacity<br />
of 500 MW. By focusing on flat roofs,<br />
the company is concentrating its<br />
effort on a niche with great potential<br />
– and has been rewarded with<br />
orders worth $2 billion.<br />
Thin-film production<br />
Solyndra breaks ground on a 500 MW thin-film<br />
module production facility in Fremont, California<br />
The ready-to-install system looks like solar thermal evacuated-tube collectors.<br />
It’s a bright, sunny September day at a<br />
construction site outside Fremont, California.<br />
Something important seems to be<br />
happening here. A stage with a podium<br />
has been erected, and a distinguished cast<br />
of sharply dressed characters is present.<br />
The group includes California Governor<br />
Arnold Schwarzenegger, US Department<br />
of Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu, and<br />
Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman. There<br />
are more than a hundred people sitting<br />
in the audience. Behind the stage, amidst<br />
mounds of dirt, stand giant bulldozers<br />
draped with American flags.<br />
The first order of business is a live<br />
feed of Vice President Joe Biden on a gi-<br />
ant television screen. Biden emphasizes<br />
how critical solar is to »a much brighter<br />
tomorrow.« When the Vice President fin-<br />
»<br />
ishes, Governor Schwarzenegger steps<br />
up to the podium to rave about Califor-<br />
nia’s booming solar industry, and clean<br />
energy-friendly policies. »A wave of in-<br />
novation has washed over California,« he<br />
proclaims. In classic Governator form, he<br />
further hypothesized that it’s the solar<br />
panels on top of the Staples Center in Los<br />
Angeles that explain why the LA Lakers<br />
»have extra energy.«<br />
This high-profile event is the ground-<br />
breaking ceremony for the construction<br />
of Fremont-based company Solyndra,<br />
Inc.’s solar module manufacturing plant.<br />
But what is so special about this Califor-<br />
nian company that it has attracted such<br />
esteemed dignitaries? Solyndra has made<br />
history as the first recipient of a loan<br />
guarantee from the DOE since the 1980s.<br />
November 2009