The State of U.S. Solar

Massachusetts-based solar panel developer Konarka Technologies Inc. has filed for bankruptcy. The company received $1.5 million in grants from the state while Mitt Romney was governor. President Obama’s reelection campaign is casting this development as “Romney’s Solyndra,” even as Romney’s campaign continues to attack the president for his role in the Solyndra scandal. Konarka and Solyndra are two high profile U.S. solar firms that have filed for bankruptcy or otherwise collapsed since 2011, but there are a number of others: Evergreen, SpectraWatt, Energy Conversion Devices Inc. Meanwhile, other firms, such as First Solar, have forecast weak market demand for 2012, as European nations reduce solar incentives and… [more]