Huffington Post
September 2, 2011
Learning From Solyndra
Mark Muro and Jonathan Rothwell
Much attention is focused this week on the bankruptcy of Solyndra, Inc., a California manufacturer of solar modules that received $527 million of loan guarantees as part of the economic stimulus package. The business failure illustrates the perils of investing in the emerging “clean energy” economy, and the difficulty of competing against a heavily subsidized solar manufacturing industry in China. Mark Muro and Jonathan Rothwell write in the Huffington Post, however, that “[i]t would be a tragedy if the failure of Solyndra occasions further weakening of the U.S. cleantech policy.” They conclude that “the failure of Solyndra should refocus the nation’s efforts on getting general energy policies right; developing rigorous, market-informed finance strategies; and working even harder to rebuild the economy on a firm and environmentally responsible bas.”