Another Solar Company Goes Bust: Oregon Taxpayers Funded; US Taxpayers Did Not Fund

The Oregonian is reporting:

SoloPower, the startup pitched as the most innovative player in Oregon solar manufacturing, will suspend its Portland operations in June and gut its remaining workforce.

It's unclear whether production will ever start back up, or whether the state will recoup millions of dollars in incentives meant to fuel the company's growth and create hundreds of well-paying jobs.

The development apparently came as a surprise Monday to the two state agencies charged with tracking its performance.  

Solar industry analysts, though, have long anticipated its demise. They point to its rush to market -- hurried along by eager government officials and private investors -- with an expensive product that was only partly developed, and just as the solar market was tanking.

"It's really so unfortunate," said Paula Mints, founder of SPV Market Research in San Jose, Calif. "I do feel bad for the SoloPower people and for the loss of jobs in Oregon."
The California company's Portland operation was already on the decline. SoloPower executives and public officials had projected the first manufacturing line would start up in early 2012, with enough work to keep 140 employees busy. Once the planned $340 million factory was complete, its workforce was to grow to 450. 

Actually I don't think they are all concerned about jobs. The map shows this operation on the Oregon side of the river, near the Port of Vancouver. There are opportunities to increase the business at the Port of Vancouver but because it involves coal and/or crude oil, activists are trying to prevent this.