The Department of Energy announced its first energy loan guarantee–$535 million to a solar panel manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. “The investment is part of President Obama’s aggressive strategy to put Americans back to work and reduce our dependence on foreign oil by developing clean, renewable sources of energy,” Stephen Chu, Department of Energy secretary, stated March 20. The company set to receive the guarantee under the federal stimulus package is Solyndra. It designs proprietary photovoltaic systems for commercial and industrial rooftops said to lower the cost of panel production. Solyndra, launched in 2005, plans to ramp up its Fremont plant, which manufactures cylindrical PV arrays. The panels use glass tubes and thin film technology. The system is lightweight and the panels allow wind to blow through them. “These factors enable the installation of PV on a broader range of rooftops without anchoring or ballast, which are inherently problematic,” states Solyndra’s website.
