DOE loan recipient to make solar power as cheap as coal in 2-3 years

Solyndra, the first recipient of a loan from the Department of Energy, told us that it thinks it will produce solar panels at a price that's competitive with standard sources of energy in the next 2-3 years.

"We see a clear path," says Kelly Truman, the VP of marketing, sales and business development, "and in 2-3 years we'll hit grid parity."

We spoke with Truman yesterday who said the $535 million loan from the DOE will finance 73% of a new factory, though he declined to say how the company would pay for the remainder of the project. The current factory is going to be able to produce 110 MW of solar panels, with each panel able to produce 200W of energy each. The next factory will be able to produce 550MW of solar panels annually. That's enough energy to power almost 200,000 homes. Solyndra hopes to have the new factory shipping panels by 2011. …

Solyndra To Make Solar Power As Cheap As Coal In 2-3 years

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