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Solyndra sues Chinese solar companies

Solyndra, the recipient of hundreds of millions in government support, has sued Chinese solar companies claiming that their illegal pricing strategies were the reason why Solyndra could not meet the contracts it promised, according to OilPrice.com.

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Robert Galbraith/Reuters/File
A view shows the headquarters of bankrupt Solyndra LLC in Fremont, Calif., in this September 2011 file photo. Last year US solar manufacturers complained about the solar panels being imported from China and asked for protection from the low prices, according to OilPrice.com.
  • By James Burgess Guest blogger

Solyndra, the bane of Obama’s clean energy loan scheme, received $535 million in government support before it had to file for bankruptcy back in 2011.

It has now come out that Solyndra has filed a lawsuit against three US based, Chinese solar companies, claiming that their illegal pricing strategies were the reason why Solyndra could not meet the contracts that it had announced in 2008. (Related Article: Is a Larger Middle East War Inevitable?)

The lawsuit is against Suntech, Trina Solar Ltd, and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co., and is asking for a sum of $1.5 billion in compensation.

Solyndra claim that the Chinese trio coordinated their pricing strategies to drop them 75% in four years. They used predatory pricing and price fixing to drive out the competition in the US. (Related Article: Why we Need to Implement an Energy Transition - Quickly)

Last year US solar manufacturers complained about the solar panels being imported from China and asked for protection from the low prices. This eventually led to a trade dispute between the two countries, culminating in high import taxes being levied against Chinese solar panels.

In their case against the three companies Solyndra remarked that they had come to the US to destroy US solar manufacturers, and had used the stock market to raise the capital needed to achieve that goal.

Robert Petrina, Managing Director, Yingli Green Energy Americas, said that “we just received notice of this complaint, but from our initial review, these are unwarranted and misguided claims from a company that has a clear history of failed technology and achievements.”
Source: http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Solyndra-File-1.5-Billion-Case-Against-Three-Chinese-Solar-Companies.html

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