Upton targets DOE solar loan guarantee

Upton, in a letter Thursday to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, said the setbacks at the company “raise questions about whether Solyndra was the right candidate to receive a loan guarantee in excess of half a billion dollars.”

Upton, who was joined on the letter by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), requested all documents and communications between Solyndra and DOE regarding the decision to grant the loan guarantee.

In March 2009, Solyndra received a $535 million loan guarantee, authorized under the stimulus law, for the construction of a new facility to make solar panels. An expansion of the facility, known as “Fab 2,” was delayed in November.

This story was updated at 4:42 p.m.