> Solyndra had such a chilling effect that the DOE stopped taking those risks.
It's frustrating to see that a private company's bad behavior wound up being a stain for the government like this.
Edit: It just seems unclear to be what the supposed fraud was.
Do not be confused into thinking there was no government collusion. Not only was solyndra a cesspool of revolving door players, it definitely knew how to play the government contracting game. I used to deliver food for ill low income housing clients and on one complex I visited saw old solyndra tube on top of the building. Someone had to look at this project and see it as a cost plus opportunity for an unrelated and unnecessary product; and now that housing block is saddled with unsupported infrastructure. Who is going to pay to remove those solyndra panels and put some other solar system up there?
Definitely! Sorry if I came across as defensive, I'm just used to people using Solyndra to criticize the whole program. On the whole, the DOE made a big impact. It's just disappointing that one bad actor reduced that impact by turning into a political hot potato.