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Former Solyndra plant and headquarters up for sale
The headquarters of bankrupt Solyndra LLC is shown in Fremont, California September 20, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith
NEW YORK |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The former manufacturing plant and headquarters financed by a controversial government loan to the now bankrupt Solyndra LLC is up for sale and could attract high-tech companies looking for new U.S. location.
The U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware on Wednesday approved the appointment of real estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle Inc to market the Fremont, California building, which cost more than $300 million and was completed in 2010, according to court documents.
Greg Matter, vice president, Jones Lang LaSalle's Supply Chain and Logistics Solutions team, declined to say how much the building could fetch.
But another commercial real estate expert said it could go for about $150 million.
Solyndra, which manufactured cylindrical solar panels, rose to fame after President Barack Obama visited it in 2010, as part of the administration's efforts to promote jobs in renewable energy. Solyndra had received a $535 million federal loan guarantee to build a factory in Fremont.
Solyndra's bankruptcy has been politically embarrassing for the administration as Republican lawmakers jumped on it as an example of failed energy policy and government waste leading up to the 2012 presidential election.
Solyndra's facilities could benefit a company that needs an utlra-clean environment such as makers of semiconductors or disc drives.
The building, located on 30 acres in the southeast section of the San Francisco Bay Area, comes with 31,000 square-feet, or two floors of office space.
The high-tech manufacturing facility was built to withstand an earthquake. It is serviced with 22 megawatts of power and backed up by two diesel emergency generators, each with 2 megawatt capacity. It also is equipped with Solyndra solar panels on the roof that can generate 1.2 megawatt of power.
The property includes plans that can expand the facility by more than 200,000 square-feet, Jones Lang LaSalle said.
Jones Lang is expected to set up a Website, www.solyndrabuilding.com, to market the property globally.
The bankruptcy case is In re Solyndra LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 11-12799.
(Reporting By Ilaina Jonas, additional reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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Wind Turbine and Solar Power is not practical, neither dependable. I’m a retired electrician.
corporation, Suntech.
1) Solar as dropped in price in the past ten years by 80%.
In that same time gas has gone up 400%. That means, relative to 2001, solar has dropped 95% compared to gas. This trend, while softening, will continue until, Mr. Shi predicts, solar will rise from 1% of global energy today to 25% by 2050. As it grows, the cost will fall..and gas will continue to rise.
If the externalities of gas costs (health, environmental, climatological, and resource wars) were included in the price, it would already by a luxury item. But under the current system, profits are privatized (and at historic highs) but most real costs are socialized.
Since solar energy has a much smaller external cost (some pollution in production and then, for decades, pollution free), its real cost is actually much cheaper compared to oil than shows at the gas pump. You pay the rest in bad air and water, respiratory and cancer diseases, sick days, lost productivity, and trillions spent to secure fossil fuels abroad in resource wars. These trillions are charged in taxes, healthcare premiums, and a degraded environment.
Solar is the future, and no one understands this better than successful entrepreneurs like Mr. Shi of Suntech, with over 3 billion in sales last year. Those who dismiss solar (and other renewable energies) are using obsolete data: solar today is far cheaper than oil if you add up the costs and project future divergence, with far cheaper solar and far more expensive oil. Expect price wars, dumping (Solyndra), and other typical capitalist tactics to corner this market. If the US gives up, the future is ceded to China.
Since 2001, the price per watt of solar energy has dropped from $6 to $1.
This trend will likely continue. Relative to oil, solar is getting cheaper and cheaper.
And if external costs of oil (health, environmental, climatological, and resource war costs) were included in the price at the pump, it would be perhaps $30, but while profits, at historic highs, are privatized, external costs are socialized and paid through higher taxes, health insurance premiums, and more borrowing (as to pay for the wars). These costs are trillions a year, resulting from dependence on oil.
Those who say solar is impractical (molten salt technology makes solar production 24/7) or too expensive are ignoring recent innovations and the relative drop of 95% in price of solar compared to oil over the past decade. This trend will only continue.
As for LOGL, I will quote hotstocked.com:
“Legend Oil and Gas. Ltd. (OTC:LOGL, LOGL message board) took a massive hit in late November, after the promotional history of its management. The price recovered a bit, but it’s still far from the $2.20 pre-drop levels.
On Friday LOGL closed down another 4.6% at 83 cents. The volume reched 306 thousand shares, about the average for LOGL.
LOGL will have the “support” of a promoter today, although promotions may be what got LOGL in its current situation. A third party paid $10 thousand for the services of StockBrain.
It was the fifth session in a row LOGL closed down.”
This is a pump and dump promotion. In the past few weeks, similar promotions took NSRS from .40 3 months ago to almost $2.00 and today down to .20. Be wary: be ready to sell in to a rally, because promoted penny stocks follow a predictable pattern of rising on hype, then falling sharply as reality sinks in.
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