Labor Department May Sink Another $14 Million into Solyndra

Taxpayers will likely shell out another $14.3 million in federal aid to the 1,100 people formerly employed by defunct solar company Solyndra. The Labor Department announced Monday that it had approved Trade Adjustment Assistance payments for those former employees, which may pay out about $13,000 for each.

TAA is designed to compensate American workers laid off as a direct result of foreign competition, and to train them for other occupations – though the program has shown few signs of success. The Labor Department’s move is a tacit assertion that Solyndra’s failure was due to competition from the Chinese, which has been the administration’s and congressional Democrats’ position since Solyndra declared bankruptcy in August.

But the claim hardly holds water. As Barry Cinnamon, CEO of Westinghouse Solar, pointed out shortly after Solyndra declared bankruptcy, American solar panels, on average, typically cost about 10 to 20 percent more than ones produced in China. But Solyndra’s product cost about twice what Chinese panels did.

Solyndra’s business model was sustainable as long as refined silicon, the material used by Solyndra’s competitors but left out in the company’s unique panel design, remained expensive. When its price fell, so too did the price of solar panels. But because it did not use refined silicon, Solyndra’s production costs did not decline with those of its competitors.

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