Solyndra LLC, a Fremont, Calif.-based manufacturer of solar products for commercial rooftops, says it is suspending manufacturing operations.
The company plans to file a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code while it evaluates options, including a sale of the business and licensing of its copper indium gallium diselenide technology and manufacturing techniques. As a result of the suspension of operations, approximately 1,100 full-time and temporary employees are being laid off.
Solyndra says that despite a number of orders for its product on large commercial rooftops, it was unable to achieve full-scale operations rapidly enough to compete in the near term against the resources of larger foreign manufacturers. The competitive challenge was exacerbated by a global oversupply of solar panels and a severe compression of prices that, in part, resulted from uncertainty in governmental incentive programs in Europe and the decline in credit markets that finance solar systems, the company adds.
‘Regulatory and policy uncertainties in recent months created significant near-term excess supply and price erosion,’ says Brian Harrison, CEO and president of Solyndra. ‘Raising incremental capital in this environment was not possible. This was an unexpected outcome and is most unfortunate.’
