California solar energy company begins construction of new plant with finalized loan guarantee

The funding is for Solyndra's second solar panel manufacturing plant and the company commenced construction of this plant near its current plant in Fremont, California. The company states that the new facility will enable it to fulfill its announced contractual backlog of over $2 billion.

The company expects annual production of solar panels from the first phase to provide energy equivalent to powering 24,000 homes a year or over half a million homes over the project's lifetime.  Solyndra estimates the new plant will initially create 3,000 construction jobs, and lead to as many as 1,000 jobs once the facility opens.  They also expect hundreds more will install Solyndra's solar panels on rooftops around the country.

The funding for the loan guarantee comes from the Recovery Act of 2009. In addition to this loan guarantee, Solyndra is using $198 million from an equity financing round to finance this project.

Over its lifetime, the first phase of the facility is expected to manufacture up to 7 gigawatts of solar panels, which the DOE says can generate electricity equivalent to 3 or 4 coal fired power plants. The DOE further states that this plant will produce about as many new solar panels as the US produced in 2005.

It is expected that the project will introduce into large-scale commercial operation a new and highly innovative process for manufacturing a breakthrough design for photovoltaic panels.  Solyndra's panels will be primarily used in the fast-growing market for large, flat rooftops.

Vice President Joe Biden made the announcement via satellite from Washington D.C., saying this is "part of the unprecedented investment this Administration is making in renewable energy and exactly what the Recovery Act is all about." He added that "by investing in the infrastructure and technology of the future, we are not only creating jobs today, but laying the foundation for long-term growth in the 21st-century economy."

"It is time to rev up the American innovation machine and reclaim our lead on clean energy," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. "This investment is part of a broad, aggressive effort to spark a new industrial revolution that will put Americans to work, end our dependence on foreign oil and cut carbon pollution."

"The economy needs clean tech alternatives to help it recover, but our planet requires clean tech solutions in order to survive," said Solyndra CEO and founder, Dr. Chris Gronet.

Solyndra is the first recipient of a loan guarantee under the Recovery Act and Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. In addition, the loan guarantee issued to Solyndra is the first issued by DOE since the 1980s. Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as exclusive financial advisor to Solyndra in connection with the DOE loan guarantee.