Colorado-based Abound Solar that got hundreds of millions of dollars in federal loan guarantees before going belly-up didn't just empty taxpayers wallets—it left behind a toxic mess of carcinogens, broken glass, and contaminated water. The Northern Colorado Business Report estimates it will cost up to $3.7 million to clean and repair the building so it can again be leased reports Fox News. (1)
President Obama touted Abound in a July3, 2010 announcement of a $2 billion 'investment' in green energy projects. He said, “Abound Solar Manufacturing will manufacture advanced solar panels at two new plants, creating more than 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs. A Colorado plant is already underway, and an Indiana plant will be built in what's now an empty Chrysler factory. When fully operational, these plants will produce millions of state-of-the-art panels each year.” (1)
This sounds similar to a speech given in California. Solyndra was touted by the Obama Administration as a prime example of how green technology could deliver jobs. The President visited the facility in May 2010 and said, “It is just a testament to American ingenuity and dynamism and the fact that we continue to have the best universities in the world, the best technology in the world, and most importantly the best workers in the world. And you guys represent that.” Solyndra, started with high hopes and $527 million in loans from the federal government, laid off 1,000 full time and temporary employees and went bankrupt. (2)
Seven months after calling themselves the 'anti-Solydra,' Abound Solar announced it was filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, arguing that cheap Chinese solar panels flooding the marker caused their demise. Internal documentation and testimony from sources within Abound show that the company was selling a faulty, under performing product, and may have misled lenders at one point in order to keep itself afloat. (3)
Besides the bankruptcy issues, while solar energy is touted as clean, The Associated Press reported that many panel makers are grappling with a hazardous waste problem. Fueled partly by billions in government incentives, the industry is creating millions of solar panels each year and, in the process, millions of pounds of toxic sludge and contaminated water. To dispose of the material, the companies must transport it by truck or rail far from their own plants to waste facilities hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of miles away. The fossil fuels used to transport that waste, experts say, is not typically considered in calculating solar's carbon footprint, giving scientists and consumers who use the measurement to gauge a product's impact on global warming the impression that solar is cleaner than it is. (1)
Jack Dini
Livermore, CA
References
“Bankrupt solar panels firm took stimulus money, left a toxic mess, says report,” foxnews.com, October 31, 2013
Matthew A. Wald, “Solar firm aided by federal loans shuts doors,” The New York Times, August 31,2011
“Abound Solar scandal deepens,” thegwpf.org, October 3, 2012
Jack Dini is author of Challenging Environmental Mythology. He has also written for American Council on Science and Health, Environment & Climate News, and Hawaii Reporter.
