solyndra, the sequel? bankrupt solar firm, doe facing scrutiny over panel problems - energy storage companies
House Republicans are pressing the Obama administration for more information on solar power
The panel company that secured $0. 4 billion in loan guarantees and then went bankrupt is now the focus of criminal investigation.
Committee of documents on Colorado
Rich solar energy is the same as half of the survey.
Giving billions of taxpayer loans to solingdra, the bankruptcy of solingdra shocked the Obama administration.
And two energy departments.
Since then, backed companies have filed for bankruptcy, with a large number of solar companies recently.
Lawmakers are now questioning whether the government is aware of the serious problems with the company's solar panels until it gets a loan guarantee under the stimulus plan in December 2010.
"Abound is the third company to get a DOE loan to go bankrupt," the House Energy and Commerce Committee told energy minister steven Chu in a letter on Wednesday.
"Before finalizing the $0. 4 billion loan guarantee, the Commission sought to gain a better understanding of Doe's knowledge of the Abound Solar Panel issue.
"The energy sector stopped financing just nine months after it approved the loan guarantee, but it stopped before the company received $70 million.
Earlier this year, Abound filed for bankruptcy, claiming that competition in China shut them out of business.
The congressional letter was sent when the district attorney's office in Weld County, Colorado confirmed it to FoxNews.
It is conducting a criminal investigation into Abound.
Spokesman Heath Montgomery declined to comment on the nature of the investigation.
A week after The Daily Caller reported that internal documents and sources had disclosed that the board of Abound was defective and claimed that the company had "potentially misled the lender" to stay, letters from the Commission were also sent floating.
"Recent reports and public documents indicate that the ongoing technical problems have resulted in the inability of Abound to survive commercially and ultimately lead to its bankruptcy," III-
A letter signed by the chairman of the committee. Fred Upton, R-Mich. , and Reps.
Cliff sdenFla.
And R-Corey Gardner. Colo.
They mentioned a review before the DOE loan guarantee was finalized and found that the more panels were exposed to the Sun, the loss of output.
Lawmakers wrote: "While the Department of Energy has not mentioned any technical issues in the documents that were prepared when it granted a large number of conditional commitments, an engineering report submitted by Doe to Doe two months before the closure of its $0. 4 billion loan guarantee indicates that the team at Abound has experienced significant efficiency and technical difficulties.
"The legislator asked the Chu to provide all engineering reports, analyses and other documents related to it.
Two other energy departments
The support company for bankruptcy is the energy storage company Beacon Power and California-
Solindra solar panel company.
The latter company continued through bankruptcy proceedings.
In recent developments, the IRS reportedly objected to the company's recent bankruptcy plan, claiming that its goal was "tax avoidance ".
President Obama touted solinda as another example of choice.
Before the energy industry went bankrupt in September 2011, the FBI and Congress conducted an investigation.
The Department of Energy said it has provided congressional investigators with more than 1 million pages of documents and had department officials attend more than 16 congressional hearings in this regard.
Speaking of the latest investigation on Wednesday, the agency noted that Abound's funds had "strong bipartisan support", including an Energy Department grant under the Bush administration.