Lame Attempt at Solyndra "Scandal" Sequel Blows up in FOX NEWS's Face

[wtmusic]

"In an attempt to create a 'solar scandal' that will be "even bigger than Solyndra," Fox News is claiming that SunPower, which recently received a federal loan guarantee, is a 'failing company' that is creating jobs "not in America, but in Mexico." In fact, industry experts see SunPower as "a success story" and the loan guarantee supports the construction of a power plant in California, not Mexico.

MEGYN KELLY, HOST: Well, if you thought the Solyndra loan scandal was bad, listen to this one. New questions being raised today as we learn that another failing company, SunPower, was given a government loan guarantee for $1.2 billion, which is of course more than twice the amount given to Solyndra, which is now bankrupt. And right now that company too, not looking good."

(...)

ELIZABETH MacDONALD: SunPower has always had a rocky earnings picture. Fox News, America Live, 10/12/11

But Experts Say The Opposite: SunPower Is A "Success Story"

Analysts say that two American companies remain strongly placed. One is First Solar, the largest American manufacturer, which uses a different technology but has its biggest factory in Malaysia. The other, SunPower, is much smaller but is an industry leader in the efficiency with which its panels convert sunlight into electricity, so that they sell at a premium to Chinese panels. New York Times, 9/2/11

http://mediamatters.org/research/201110130019

Video at link.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. There is also Lightsquared which seems to be getting some traction

Mostly because it will destroy the usefulness of existing GPS receivers.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wtmusic]

3. If you look hard enough, there's always bad news

Then there's this (your link)

"Exceeding Expectations in Residential & Commercial

As the solar industry transitions to a period of ample supply, the value of our differentiated technology and downstream strategy reduces our exposure to short-term pricing volatility. In R&C, we expanded our global dealer network by approximately 500 dealers, ending the year at more than 1,500 dealers in eight countries. We expect that number will continue to grow as our supply expands with the planned ramp up of our Fab 3 plant in Malaysia. Our dealer network is the strongest in the industry and provides us with the flexibility to rapidly adjust allocation toward market opportunity and away from market risk.

SunPower’s commercial business grew significantly in the past year, with a strong performance in the public sector and federal markets because our highly efficient panels offer the best return on investment. We are successfully delivering a large number of systems to single customers that value our technology and installation expertise. A prime example is our 11-megawatt (MW) agreement with California’s Mount Diablo Unified School District which will incorporate solar onto 51 different facilities.

Additionally, we extended our partnerships with major corporations while adding new ones. Macy’s fulfillment center in Arizona will host the largest single rooftop system at 3.5 MW when completed. On the other side of the country, we were selected to install a 4.1-MW solar system at Dow Jones’ corporate offices in central New Jersey."

Pencillin was another development that depended on government funding - bad idea?

[Viking12]

4. What? Fox News lies? Who knew?

[FBaggins]

5. Well... it's no scandal from what I've seen... but it's certainly no "success story"

Their stock price fell from about $125 four years ago to a bit over $20 this summer...

...and fell to $7.50 earlier this month.

Hardly "success".

[wtmusic]

6. There aren't any American solar companies who are doing well

based on stock price, so singling out those who got federal loan guarantees is....a bit disingenuous.

[FBaggins]

7. "Success" is not the same thing as "not as bad as some"

And there's a big difference between a stock price that's 5-10% of it's high and one that's 20-30% of it.

It's like calling BofA a "success story" because they didn't go under.

[pscot]

8. Is stock price the only measure

of success?

[FBaggins]

9. Of course not. But it's a whopping big one

Hard to imagine a "success story" that includes losing over 90% of your company value.

By what measure would you consider them a "success story"?

[FBaggins]

10. First Solar just fired their CEO and dramatically cut earnings forecasts

A very odd success story, IMO.

http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LTOAKQ6JIJUZ01-11D9H2ORU9S1HN4234OO588MKV

Apparently, they received ~3Billion of that same Energy Dept program... so we'll no doubt start to hear of them in the news too.